Controversial Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis thrust himself into the spotlight by striding across the City Ground pitch after Sunday’s draw with rivals Leicester City.
Forest dropped points against the relegated Foxes, a big blow to their quickly fading hopes of qualifying for the Champions League.
Marinakis entered the field of play after the match in an obvious state of annoyance, prompting Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher to brand him ’embarrassing’ and Gary Neville, Carragher’s Sky colleague, to be just as forthright on social media.
“Scandalous from that Forest owner,” posted Neville on X, formerly Twitter. “Nuno [Espirito Santo, Nottingham Forest manager] should go and negotiate his exit tonight with him! The Forest fans, players and manager do not deserve that.”
On Tuesday, Forest issued a baffling statement that sought to clarify Marinakis’ actions in light of a serious injury sustained by striker Taiwo Awoniyi.
“We urge former coaches and players, and other public figures in the game, to resist the urge to rush to judgement and fake news online, especially when they do not have the full facts and context,” read the statement.
“Baseless and ill-informed outrage for the purposes of personal social media traction serves no one – least of all the injured player.
“We call on these influential voices to show the same respect for player welfare that they often demand from others. Let concern come before commentary.”
Forest noted that any suggestion that Marinakis entered the pitch to confront Nuno was false, claiming that concern for Awoniyi was his sole motivation.
Nottingham Forest’s Taiwo Awoniyi and Morgan Gibbs-White (Image: Alamy/Ritchie Sumpter/Alamy Live News)
“In the final ten minutes of the game, when he [Marinakis] saw our player clearly in discomfort, struggling through visible pain, it became increasingly difficult for him to stay on the sidelines,” continued the statement.
Awoniyi had collided with the post after play was allowed to continue while the assistant referee waited to raise the offside flag, an unfortunate scenario that reignited debate about the VAR offside review process.
The Forest striker continued despite his condition but tests revealed a serious abdominal injury that required surgical intervention.
“The extent of the injury was confirmed on Monday and he was rushed to hospital. It can now be disclosed that the injury was of a nature which, in some cases, can prove to be fatal,” reports the Daily Mail.
