Forest owner Marinakis accused of match-fixing in Greece by defendant in British defamation case – ThePrint

(This October 31 story has been reposted to clarify the source of the accusation in the headline)

By Sam Tobin

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

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

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 the Nottingham Forest ground 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. She asked the court to overturn permission granted in May to serve the case against her outside England.

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 Irini Karipidis, he threatened that Theodoros would ‘not leave the field alive’ if Olympiakos 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.

(Reporting by Sam Tobin; Editing by Ed Osmond)

Disclaimer: This report is automatically generated by the Reuters news service. ThePrint is not responsible for its content.