‘A winner, imposing, controversial’ – who is Forest owner Marinakis?
Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis has words for manager Nuno Espirito Santo after Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Leicester
As Evangelos Marinakis marched on to the City Ground pitch it was clear he is still very much the boss at Nottingham Forest.
After Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Leicester, and with Forest’s Champions League hopes slipping away, the Greek shipping magnate held a brief, animated and extremely public discussion with head coach Nuno Espirito Santo.
Marinakis’ standing at the City Ground has not changed. However, he ceased to be a “person with significant control” of Forest by putting his stake in the club into a blind trust.
Maybe nobody thought it wise to remind him of that on Sunday.
Forest can still qualify for the Champions League and that has led to the dilution of Marinakis’ control. Greek giants Olympiakos – another of Marinakis’ clubs – have secured a spot in the competition’s 2025-26 league phase, and Uefa rules state that clubs under the same ownership cannot compete in the same European competition.
There will be no official ramifications or consequences for Sunday’s on-field incident from the Premier League, as it is not viewed as a serious matter.
Internally at Forest the matter is considered closed. Sources have told BBC that everyone is moving on and recognising the achievement of returning the club to Europe for the first time since 1996, as they are assured of at least a Conference League spot.
Both Nuno and Marinakis played it down after the game as the confrontation briefly took the spotlight away from what has been a hugely successful season, following last year’s brush with relegation.
Sky Sports’ Gary Neville branded the incident “scandalous”, but Danny Murphy told Match of the Day 2 there was little point in dwelling on it.
Yet where Marinakis goes, headlines usually follow.
‘Imposing, passionate, always has his phone in hand’
Marinakis at the City Ground in 2024, with Forest taking on Manchester United in the FA Cup
Sami Mokbel, BBC Sport senior football correspondent
When I interviewed Marinakis 12 months ago in his London offices, I met an imposing figure, yet at times softly spoken and candid.
He loves the colour red, from his jewellery to the artwork on his walls.
Marinakis and his family may be worth an estimated 3bn, according to Forbes. But he cares. And he always wants to win.
At the time, he told me about the “more than 100” Forest matches – home and away – he had been to “without incident”, the 250m-plus he had invested in the club, and he spoke passionately, external about a range of football topics – including refereeing standards and pundit criticism.
He also confirmed his “dream” to move Forest to a new 50,000-seat stadium, with accompanying state-of-the-art training centre and academy – saying it would “change the history in years to come of the region and the team for our supporters”.
Some might say history is already changing, given Forest’s first European qualification for 30 years.
I’ve met him since that interview and I’ve seen the people he keeps around him almost physically stand to attention when he speaks. He’s usually got his phone in one hand and his headphones in another hand – like he’s always about to jump on a phone call to make orders.
He’s deeply passionate about the club, and he sets high standards. When those around him don’t adhere to those standards, I think he’s quick to let them know.
But the more I’ve dealt with him, you see the more personable side. If you get under that ‘death stare’ persona I think he can also be a nice guy.
When I last bumped into him after Forest lost the FA Cup semi-final to Manchester City, he was obviously very, very upset and he wears his heart on his sleeve. He was marching around the Wembley suite like it was the end of the world, face like thunder.
Evangelos Marinakis confronted Nuno Espirito Santo following the 2-2 draw with Leicester on Sunday
Marinakis is the founder and chairman of Capital Maritime & Trading Corp, an international shipping company, and was voted Greek Shipping Personality of the Year by British publication Lloyd’s List in 2017.
He has also invested in the media and his company, Alter Ego Media, bought two of Greece’s best known daily newspapers – Ta Nea and To Vima.
In 2019, he launched a new television channel, One Channel, in Greece. Earlier this year, his Alter Ego Media company, the largest media organisation in Greece, floated on the Athens stock market.
As well as owning Forest, Marinakis bought Olympiakos in 2010.
Under his ownership, the Greek side have won 11 domestic league titles and the Europa Conference League in 2024. Portuguese side Rio Ave also come under his portfolio.
Marinakis also confirmed in December he had been in talks to purchase Brazilian side Vasco da Gama.
“We have a multi-club ownership and a lot see it as business. I don’t necessarily see it this way,” he said. “It’s very difficult to combine business with football, especially with big teams when you need to win trophies, you need to participate in Europe.
“It doesn’t necessarily mean that you can make money – the opposite in a lot of cases. We don’t have an unlimited budget, we are not a state company or a company that can afford each year to lose money.
“We need to find the balance between what we spend and what we can achieve.”
As he looks to extend his football empire, Marinakis has tempted Edu away from Arsenal.
Edu is yet to be officially announced by Forest, but he is widely expected to become their new global director of football to oversee all Marinakis’ clubs. The former Brazil international left the Gunners after five years in November, having been sporting director since 2022 and technical director previously.
He was at Wembley in April to watch Forest lose their FA Cup semi-final to Manchester City.
Edu’s anticipated appointment is a signal of Marinakis’ intentions and desire to elevate Forest to another level, after buying them in May 2017 from Fawaz Al Hasawi.
Forest had just avoided relegation to League One on goal difference, and Marinakis stated his ambition was a return to the top flight by saying the club “belongs to the elite of the Premier League”.
They achieved Premier League status for the first time in 23 years by winning promotion under Steve Cooper in 2022.
Multiple investigations have named Marinakis
When Marinakis bought Forest eight years ago he faced accusations of match-fixing in Greece, despite passing the EFL’s owners’ and directors’ test.
It was a charge he denied and he was cleared in 2018.
The prosecution had accused him of fraud and blackmail and joining and running a criminal organisation, but these allegations were dropped.
At the time, Forest chairman Nick Randall said in a letter to supporters that Marinakis had made sure structures were in place, regardless of his “individual fortunes”.
He also faced no action over allegedly being involved in the bombing of a referee’s bakery.
The bombing happened a few days after a game between Xanthi and Olympiakos in 2012. Xanthi beat Olympiakos 1-0 and referee Petros Konstantineas claimed before the game he had received indirect threats to “ensure” Olympiakos won the game against Xanthi. Marinakis denied any involvement.
Marinakis was also named during the investigation of Greece’s most controversial drug trafficking scandals.
The ‘Noor 1’ case is widely regarded as one of the largest in Greek history, involving the smuggling of 2.1 tonnes of heroin into Greece in 2014.
Marinakis was never charged or convicted of a crime. His alleged connections to individuals involved in the smuggling network placed him under formal judicial investigation for a time. He denied the allegations.
Marinakis is being investigated in relation to civil misdemeanours. The investigation was prompted by the death of a riot police officer who was injured by a flare following an Olympiakos v Panathinaikos volleyball game in December 2023.
Marinakis denies the allegations, which he says are “totally baseless”, and has claimed it is a blackmail attempt.
Evangelos Marinakis has courted controversy during his time at Nottingham Forest
Pitch invasion, spitting & questioning VAR
Sunday was also not the first time Marinakis has been under the spotlight for being on the pitch. In 2021, the Greek Super League banned him from entering the field of play for five months after he was found guilty of verbally abusing a referee.
While at Forest, disciplinary issues have also followed him.
In September he was found guilty of improper conduct for spitting on the floor as the match officials walked past following Forest’s 1-0 Premier League defeat by Fulham at the City Ground on 28 September. He was given a five-game stadium ban.
Marinakis denied the charge, but referee Josh Smith, assistant referee James Mainwaring and fourth official Tim Robinson submitted written statements saying they saw Marinakis spitting on the floor in their direction as they walked to the dressing room.
Three months later, he was a central character in Forest’s “attack on the integrity of a match official on an unparalleled scale” after a social media post made about VAR Stuart Attwell.
Marinakis said he had “no regrets” calling out “big mistakes” made by the official, but Forest were fined 750,000 for the post on X last season.
The club’s official account called Attwell’s integrity into question after Forest were not awarded penalties in their defeat at Everton last April, which left them a point above the relegation zone.
