Forest owner Marinakis is accused of match-fixing in Greece as his rival files his British lawsuit

LONDON – Evangelos Marinakis, a Greek shipping magnate and owner of English Premier League football club Nottingham Forest, was charged on October 31 with trying to fix a Greek football match. In a London libel case, he reports an alleged smear campaign in Britain.

Marinakis launched the defamation case against Irini Karipidis, chairman of Greek Super League club Aris Thessaloniki, and others in London’s High Court in 2024.

He claims Karipidis was behind a website with allegations that Marinakis was involved in match-fixing, drug smuggling and shipping Russian oil in violation of sanctions, which he strongly denies.

Marinakis’ lawyers say the campaign involved driving a mobile billboard around Forest’s City Ground stadium before two matches in 2023, directing people to the website.

However, Karipidis says she has “a clear defense of the truth” in the defamation lawsuit.

Her lawyer Matthew Hodson said in court documents that Marinakis had started a campaign against Karipidis after her brother Theodoros refused to arrange a match between Aris and Marinakis-owned Olympiacos in 2023.

Hodson said in the document that during the match, which ended 2-2, Marinakis “became so angry that, according to Karipidis, he threatened that Theodoros would ‘not leave the field alive’ if Olympiacos lost.”

Marinakis’ attorney David Sherborne said in court documents that the allegation was made in open court simply to generate negative publicity.

He argued that Karipidis’ request to withdraw permission to serve the case on her was “a transparent attempt to further their campaign” against Marinakis.

Ari Harow, a former aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is also a defendant, with Marinakis alleging that Harow facilitated payments in support of the alleged smear campaign.

His lawyer Ali Sinai said in court documents that the case against Harow should also be dismissed.

Separately, Marinakis had also made headlines last week.

He was given a five-match ban for spitting on the ground as match officials passed by in the tunnel following Forest’s 1–0 defeat at home to Fulham on 28 September.

The BBC reported that Marinakis was found guilty of inappropriate conduct, with an independent regulatory commission saying there was “no excuse” for such “a blatant display of disrespectful behavior” that “could fuel disrespect towards match officials”.

On the pitch, however, Forest did well under Nuno Espirito Santo, who helped the club avoid relegation in the 2023/24 Premier League season.

After nine games this season, they are seventh with sixteen points, just one behind sixth-placed Chelsea. REUTERS