The complicated character of ‘Mr Marinakis’ poses one Nottingham Forest question | OneFootball

Rarely do footballers cite their club’s owner as the key reason behind a major career decision. The script often reads something about managers, teammates, fans or wider ambition - but not about the typically-silent powerbroker, their over-arching employer.

Like church and state, shareholders and players often don’t cross streams, which is why their praises aren’t usually sung by the names on the back of the shirts they sell. Yet when Morgan Gibbs-White addressed the world after penning a shock contract extension at Nottingham Forest, the imposing influence of ownership was present for everyone to see.

Forest’s star man didn’t simply pledge his future to the club. He pledged it to Evangelos Marinakis.

“I’m delighted to sign,” Gibbs-White said, Marinakis anchored by his side. “So thank you to Mr Marinakis for believing in me. Last year we got to showcase what we’re about and what we’re trying to build as a team and I feel like Mr Marinakis is the base of that.” The England international spent most of the now widely-shared interview staring at the ground, only allowing himself a fleeting glance at the colossal figure next to him.

Gibbs-White - and the Forest-employed interviewer - incessantly hailed “Mr Marinakis”. When asked about the culture of ambition created inside the dressing room, Gibbs-White responded: “Mr Marinakis is the main reason for that.”

It was a strange watch, but one that was reflective of the complicated character that comes with Forest’s one-of-a-kind leader.

Just 16 days prior, Marinakis’ talisman looked to be bidding farewell to the City Ground - something that The Independent understands was considered an inevitability within the Forest dressing room towards the end of last term. Tottenham thought they had activated his £60m release clause and even organised a medical, with it seeming Gibbs-White was ready to make next steps. That was before Forest retaliated, accusing Spurs of illegally approaching the midfielder - going to the player before the club - as they considered legal action.

It was a massive spanner in the works that eventually killed the move stone-dead, and The Independent understands was indicative of how many clubs and agents see Marinakis’ Forest: hard to do business with.

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Having signed a new deal with Nottingham Forest, Morgan Gibbs-White praised Evangelos Marinakis for his impact on the club (Getty Images)

“I will never let anybody from any other team try to get a player from us or make us do something that we don’t agree with - especially with guys that belong to our family,” Marinakis said in his soft-spoken tone. What looked like a gutting departure for Forest turned into a statement of intent.

However, it’s this unwavering stubbornness that makes him such a polarising figure in the football world.

To rivals, his volatile personality has made him villainous. He presumably authorised Forest’s social media post lambasting refereeing standards in April 2024 - something he later stated he had “no regrets” over. A year later, he made headlines again for marching onto the pitch to animatedly remonstrate with manager Nuno Espirito Santo, with it later transpiring that this was in regard to how Taiwo Awoniyi’s serious abdominal injury was treated by those involved. When Gary Neville reacted to the latter incident on social media, branding Marinakis’ actions as “scandalous”, Forest responded by denying the Sky Sports pundit’s City Ground accreditation for their final game of the season against Chelsea. It was an unprecedented and audacious move from an English football club, turning away a featured personality of the broadcaster who pays the bulk of the Premier League’s £6.7bn TV rights deal.

Yet within Forest, he remains popular.

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Marinakis (left) in a heated conversation with Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo (AFP via Getty Images)

He gives quick, straight, emphatic answers, which The Independent understands people inside the club actually appreciate. His passion for the club is undisputable - a regular attendee at matches, he is often seen greeting his players and staff in the tunnel, like a father with his “family”. And with the fans, while he may not be the steadiest hand on the tiller, he gets results. Gibbs-White’s stunning renewal is the most recent proof of this, but lest we forget that Forest have gone from the brink of League One to European football under his ownership. Why would the supporters complain?

A man who adores the colour red, it seems he bleeds Nottingham Forest. But like with all billionaires, his portfolio is multi-faceted. Having made his riches as a shipping magnate, he also owns Olympiakos in his homeland as well as Portuguese side Rio Ave. He boasts a footballing empire that he is keen to expand, revealing in December that he was also in talks to buy Brazilian outfit Vasco da Gama. But with hopes of a fruitful future comes a somewhat difficult past.

When Marinakis bought Forest eight years ago, he was embroiled in a match-fixing scandal in Greece - despite passing the EFL's owners' and directors' test. The prosecution accused him of fraud and blackmail as well as joining and running a criminal organisation - charges which he denied and was later cleared of, alongside 28 other individuals being investigated. It's important to note that Greek judicial processes can often include large groups of people in judge-led investigations with what can be limited evidential basis.

Amid the scandal, he was also accused of being involved in the bombing of a referee’s bakery, which took place days after Olympiakos suffered a 1-0 defeat to Xanthi in 2012. Petros Konstantineas, who owned the bakery, officiated that game and claimed he had been pressured prior to kick-off to ensure Olympiakos “definitely” won. Once again, Marinakis denied any wrongdoing and faced no action after a judge found there was no evidence to support his involvement in the proceedings.

But Marinakis’ most publicised controversy relates to one outside of football; his alleged involvement in the “Noor 1” drug trafficking case, one of the largest in Greek history, which regarded the smuggling of 2.1 tonnes of heroin into Greece in 2014. Marinakis vehemently denied the allegations. In January 2025, the Piraeus Magistrates Council of Judges handed down an acquittal ruling, which amounted to a positive finding of innocence.

Marinakis has also been investigated in relation to civil misdemeanours, sparked by the death of riot police officer in the aftermath of a volleyball game between Olympiakos and Panathinaikos in December 2023. Marinakis faces a trial as part of a probe into sports violence because he is a board member of Olympiakos. He denies all allegations, with his lawyers claiming they are “totally baseless”.

Marinakis, outright rejecting these accusations against him, is currently suing the owner of Greek Super League rivals Aris FC, Irini Karipidis, for libel over several “false” allegations made against him, which his barristers say amount to a “smear campaign”.

Yet amid these proceedings, his commitment to Forest has never changed.

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Marinakis is committed to Forest despite owning multiple football clubs across Europe (Mike Egerton/PA Wire)

In a professional game where distance and a lack of desire from ownership can prove the tragic downfall of clubs, Marinakis refuses to be any less than at the heart of the club’s activity. Even when he’s forced to dilute his shares - as he had to earlier this season to comply with the multi-club ownership rules of Uefa competitions - it’s clear he remains the man in charge, intent on not letting the running of the club to slip from his specific standards.

Fan sentiment is important to Marinakis and despite his controversies, he has continued to bring good fortunes to the City Ground. And while Gibbs-White hardly looked at ease beside his employer, the fact he is still a Forest player speaks volumes to Marinakis’ unique ability to shift tides as an owner. He flew out to Forest’s training camp in the Algarve, made his pitch, more than doubled his salary and tied his star man down when he already had both feet out the door.

Marinakis has a knack for throwing the financial kitchen sink at Forest in a bid to bring them on-pitch success, something that has admittedly come back to bite them in the past. Their trolley dash post-promotion saw them sign 22 players in the summer of 2022, business contributing to a PSR breach that led to a four-point deduction, dropping them into the relegation zone. Things could have spiralled out of control if they had gone down and lost the Premier League riches altogether, akin to the Leeds United financial collapse of the early 2000s.

Instead, Forest are now flying, with last year’s success acting as vindication for Marinakis’ strategy. The club are now bracing for a first European tour in three decades, with it looking increasingly likely they’ll be jumping in Crystal Palace’s Europa League grave.

But considering his overzealous character crafted by his environment and the near-constant target on his back, the question remains whether his unique “all guns blazing” approach to ownership is truly sustainable.