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Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis banned for five matches for spitting on ground as match officials walked by | UK News

Mars October 23, 2024

The Nottingham Forest owner was handed a five-match stadium ban for spitting on the ground as match officials walked by – despite claiming his cigar habit caused him to cough up phlegm.

The Football Association (FA) revealed last week that Evangelos Marinakis had been suspended following his team’s 1-0 home defeat to Fulham at the City Ground on September 28.

The Greek businessman spat on the ground as match officials walked past him in the tunnel following the defeat, which came after the London side were awarded a penalty by the video assistant referee (VAR).

An independent regulatory commission found he had been found guilty of inappropriate conduct.

Referee Josh Smith, assistant referee James Mainwaring and fourth official Tim Robinson submitted written statements to the panel saying they saw Mr Marinakis pointing the spittle towards the ground in their direction.

In a statement, the independent panel said Mr Marinakis’ defense was that he “suffered from a dry cough on the day of the match”.

He adds that the businessman said he “felt a cough coming and so coughed on the ground.”

His defense said that while he “accepts that phlegm or sputum may have been produced, this was due to the cough”.

According to the panel, the Greek businessman also said he smoked “two or three cigars a day” and “often needed to expectorate and/or cough.”

Mr Marinakis said he did not remember if “spit left his mouth, but if it did… it certainly wasn’t aimed at the
the referee’s feet and did not touch anyone.

The panel adds that Mr Marinakis said he did not see how coughing “towards the ground in a relatively busy tunnel constituted misconduct”.

In his evidence to the committee, referee Mr Smith said: “As I walked down the tunnel at the end of the match, Mr Evangelos Marinakis, the owner of Nottingham Forest, was standing to my left, at the end of the tunnel.

“As I walked past him he spat on the ground next to my left foot. James Mainwaring and Tim Robinson also saw it.”

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The fourth official, Mr Robinson, told the commission: “I then returned to continue monitoring the tunnel area and saw Mr Evangelos Marinakis spitting as the match officials walked past him.”

Assistant referee Mr Mainwaring said: “He didn’t say anything but as we approached him and got close, he spat on the ground as we approached him.”

The FA argued to the commission that the spitting was “completely unprovoked” and that “no match official should be expected to tolerate such a blatant display of disrespectful behavior”.

Mr Marinakis’ ban was announced on Friday (October 18), with the independent panel saying he would be banned for the first team’s next five matches, whether home or away, after that date.

He added that the decision is subject to appeal.

Meanwhile, Nottingham Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo and midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White were suspended on Friday for a separate incident during a 2-2 draw between Forest and Brighton in September.

Espirito Santo was handed a three-match touchline ban after receiving a red card during the match, while Gibbs-White was handed a one-match ban for his reaction to his sending-off.