Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis’ stadium ban remains after failed appeal

By Jamie Gardner, PA Chief Sports Reporter

A five-match stadium ban imposed on Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis will stay in place after an appeal against the sanction was dismissed.

The Greek shipping magnate was sanctioned for misconduct on October 18th, with the written reasons revealing the following week that the punishment was imposed for spitting on the floor in front of the match officials following Forest’s match against Fulham on September 28th.

Forest immediately indicated their intention to appeal, but the Football Association announced on Monday that an appeal board had dismissed the challenge.

The FA said the written reasons for the appeal board’s dismissal would be published in due course.

Forest have been contacted for comment regarding the appeal dismissal.

The original independent commission found there was “no excuse” for such “an egregious display of disrespectful behaviour” by Marinakis, and said it could “fuel disrespect towards match officials”.

Nottingham Forest have been fined £750,000 and warned for misconduct in relation to comments posted on social media after their Premier League game against Everton on Sunday 21 April.

Full statement: https://t.co/v6Gng3BqJB pic.twitter.com/PWIhkaKmPb

— FA Spokesperson (@FAspokesperson) October 11, 2024

The club have also separately appealed against a £750,000 fine imposed upon them after they posted on their official social media accounts about Stuart Attwell’s role in their defeat to Everton last season.

They said Attwell, who was the VAR for the match, had denied them three clear penalties in the match, and said they had “warned” referees body Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) that Attwell was a Luton fan, but they had not changed the appointment.

The written reasons in that case revealed the FA sought a fine of at least £1million in relation to those comments, because they attacked the integrity of an official and the game of football as a whole “on an unparalleled scale”.

Forest said the £750,000 fine was “disproportionate”.