The trial of Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis has begun in Greece, with the recognisable Premier League figure accused of instigating football violence and supporting a criminal organisation.
Marinakis co-owns Super League Greece side Olympiacos and is on trial in Athens alongside four other board members on misdemeanour charges.
The trial stems from charges lodged after a 31-year-old riot police officer George Lyngeridis was killed after a volleyball match between A1 Ethniki Women’s Volleyball sides Olympiacos and Panathinaikos in 2023 – Lyngeridis suffered facial injuries before dying in hospital.
Nearly 150 fans face charges of being part of a criminal organisation and causing life-threatening explosions. All of them deny the charges.
The 58-year-old Marinakis, who caused a stir by replacing Nuno Espírito Santo with Ange Postecoglou before sacking the Australian after eight games, did not appear in court. He was instead represented by his lawyer Vassilis Dimakopoulos. All five board members deny the charges.
Marinakis trial
“The accusations are totally baseless,” Marinakis’ lawyer said.
More than 200 people are expected to testify as part of the trial, having started on Wednesday.
Marinakis’ footballing portfolio includes Nottingham Forest and Olympiacos, as well as an investment in Portuguese club Rio Ave.
Under his stewardship, Nottingham Forest – which he purchased in a £50m deal in 2017 – returned to the Premier League after a two-decade absence. And his Olympiacos team became the first Greek team to win a European title when they beat Fiorentina in the 2024 Europa Conference League final.
In 2018 the Nottingham Forest owner was cleared of wrongdoing after he was accused of forming a Greek match-fixing ring.
And in the same year he was cleared of drug trafficking in a heroin smuggling case due to a lack of evidence. Marinakis denied both of the charges against him at the time.
Nottingham Forest are in action on Thursday, taking on SK Sturm Graz in the Europa League in Austria.
The Greek businessman offered to help pay for the medical care of those caught up in the recent mass stabbing on a train in Huntingdon.