Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis has suspended his involvement with the club due to UEFA’s multi-club ownership rules. Forest currently sit sixth in the Premier League and look set to qualify for Europe for the first time since 1996, when they reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup.
Marinakis also owns Greek Super League club Olympiakos, who competed in the Europa League this season and have already qualified for next season’s Champions League. Forest could join them if they finish in the top five this season.
However, UEFA rules prevent clubs under common ownership from competing in the same European competition. As a result, Marinakis has made some changes in order to avoid any issues with UEFA.
The Telegraph are reporting that Marinakis has placed his shares in a blind trust, but remains ‘fully committed’ to Forest. It is a move that Manchester United co-owners Ineos have also had to make due to their ownership of Nice, while the City Football Group who own Manchester City did the same with Girona.
The move has been confirmed with papers filed to Companies House showing that Marinakis has ceased to be a ‘person with significant control’ of the club’s parent company NF Football Investments Limited.
Forest dropped to sixth in the league last week after City, Newcastle and Chelsea all picked up wins. Forest do have a game in hand after they were beaten by City in the semi-finals of the FA Cup on Sunday.
While City played their league game ahead of the semi-final, Forest will play their game in hand on Thursday and will return to third if they beat Brentford. And manager Nuno Espirito Santo has urged his players to make sure they can bounce back quickly from the disappointment of their semi-final defeat.
“It’s always harder to work after a disappointing moment,” he told club media. “The other way round is much easier, to build and carry on the momentum.
“When you have setbacks there is one law in life; you fall down, you grieve, and you get up and go. This is how we are. Our focus now is on Brentford.
“Thomas Frank is an outstanding manager, they are strong defensively, good at set-pieces and they play good football. But we have the City Ground and the responsibility to deliver, to play, to perform well and compete.
“Avoid mistakes and provoke mistakes from the opposition. This is our chance to be what you should be on the football pitch, be professionals that want to achieve bigger things, huge and magical things. This thought has to lift us up.”
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