Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis has once again thrust himself into the eye of a Premier League storm. According to football finance expert and former Everton chief executive Keith Wyness, the Greek shipping magnate has made a “huge mistake” by launching a high-profile defamation lawsuit against Crystal Palace, bringing unwanted legal drama back into English football.
The controversy stems from an incendiary fan banner unfurled by Crystal Palace supporters last season. The banner depicted Marinakis holding a gun to Morgan Gibbs-White’s head while launching explosive, unproven accusations regarding match-fixing and drug trafficking.
While Marinakis has never been found guilty of any such allegations, former executive Keith Wyness believes that taking the South London club to court is a monumental error in judgment that will backfire spectacularly.
Wyness: Why Marinakis Should Have Turned a Blind Eye
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, Wyness pulled no punches when assessing the Forest owner’s legal strategy. Rather than letting the erroneous claims fade quietly into the background, Wyness argues that filing a lawsuit only drags massive, unwanted media scrutiny back onto the City Ground.
“I think all he’s done is drag more attention to it, which is always the problem. The fact is those accusations were already out there in the public domain, even though they were proved to be erroneous,” Wyness explained.
“I thought he’d be better, and turn a blind eye to it, shrug his shoulders, have a laugh and move on. Now, it’s easy for me to say, but I think that would have been a better service for him if he’d done that. I’m afraid it’s just the wrong course of action. It’s bringing legal action back into football. I thought Marinakis might have learnt his lesson, but it’s very clear he hasn’t. This is a huge mistake from him to have filed this lawsuit.”
This latest legal battle follows a long line of fiery confrontations involving the Forest chief, most notably when he wrote directly to UEFA last summer attempting to strip Crystal Palace of their Europa League qualification spot.
A Dangerous Distraction From Forest’s On-Field Struggles
Beyond the legal optics, Wyness highlighted a far more critical issue for Nottingham Forest supporters: the owner’s divided attention.
Following a difficult and turbulent campaign last season, Forest are under immense pressure to regroup, stabilize, and mount a serious challenge under their managerial setup. Wyness believes that instead of obsessing over personal vendettas and court battles, Marinakis should be pouring 100% of his energy into fixing the footballing side of the club.
“It’s only a distraction, and it’s just not the right thing to do. He should be focusing on the club and trying to turn around the bad season they had last year,” Wyness added.
“He just loves those headlines, and he loves sticking it to people, but there’s something wrong with him somewhere, thinking this is the right course of action.”
Slim Chances of Legal Victory
Adding fuel to the fire, legal experts have expressed grave doubts over whether Marinakis can actually secure a win in a British court.
Wyness previously noted that the legal threshold for defamation in the United Kingdom is exceptionally high. To emerge victorious, Marinakis and his legal team would need to definitively prove that his personal and business reputation suffered measurable, tangible “harm” directly resulting from the supporters’ banner—a notoriously difficult burden of proof in football-related disputes.
As the legal proceedings unfold behind the scenes, all eyes will remain locked on Evangelos Marinakis. Whether this high-stakes courtroom gamble pays off or simply serves as an expensive, exhausting sideshow remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: Nottingham Forest’s colorful owner is once again commanding the headlines across the footballing world.
