Nottingham Forest owner’s High Court libel case can continue, judge rules

Evangelos Marinakis, who has owned the side Premier League team since 2017, is suing Greek football rival Irini Karipidis.

Evangelos Marinakis, who also owns Greek Super League side Olympiacos (Mike Egerton/PA) (PA Wire)

Nottingham Forest FC owner Evangelos Marinakis can continue a libel claim against a Greek football rival at the High Court, a judge has ruled.

Marinakis, who also owns Greek side Olympiacos, sued Irini Karipidis, the owner of Super League rivals Aris, over several “false” allegations including that he had conducted match-fixing and was involved in a high-profile drug trafficking case in Greece, which he denies.

Barristers for the shipping magnate told a hearing in October that the £2.1 million claim should be allowed to continue in an English court, and that the allegations amounted to a “smear campaign”.

Lawyers for Ms Karipidis said that an English court “is not clearly the most appropriate place” for the claim, which “lacks merit”.

If the claimant’s pleaded case succeeds, the level of general damages to which he would, on the face of it, be entitled is such that, from the perspective of compensating for harm to his reputation alone, the claim seems well worth bringing.

Richard Spearman KC

In a judgment on Friday, Richard Spearman KC, sitting as a deputy High Court judge, said: “Leaving aside altogether that this is ultimately an issue for trial on the evidence that will by then be available, the gravity of the allegations complained of and the nature and extent of each publication pleaded is such that, in my judgment, on the materials at present before the court, an inference of ‘serious harm’ appears hard to resist.”

He continued: “If the claimant’s pleaded case succeeds, the level of general damages to which he would, on the face of it, be entitled is such that, from the perspective of compensating for harm to his reputation alone, the claim seems well worth bringing, to say nothing of compensation for distress or the element of vindication which is typically of significance in claims for defamation.”

The previous hearing in London was told that the allegations, which Mr Marinakis denies, were made on a website, social media, and mobile billboards between November 2023 and March last year.

The court heard that the website was called “nottinghamforestfire.co.uk”, with three articles published online in November 2023.

An account was also created on X, formerly Twitter, with several posts published in December 2023, and six videos uploaded to a YouTube channel.

The allegations were also displayed on mobile billboards driven around Nottingham Forest’s stadium, the City Ground, on two match days.

The YouTube channel, X account and website were all later taken down.

David Sherborne, for Mr Marinakis, told the court in written submissions that the “highly defamatory” allegations were “completely untrue”.

He said they included that Mr Marinakis was a “leader of a criminal organisation” and “guilty of match-fixing practices including extortion, fraud and arson”, among others.

He added that an English court could hear the claim as “the methods and the objective (the defendants) devised and pursued for their campaign were all quintessentially English”.

Matthew Hodson, for Ms Karipidis, told the court that the social media campaign had “limited publication” and “fared pathetically”, and that there was no evidence of “actual harm” to Mr Marinakis’s reputation.

He continued that the dispute stemmed from an incident at a match between Olympiacos and Aris, which Ms Karipidis runs with her brother, Theodoros.

It was claimed that in the 2022-23 season, Mr Marinakis approached Mr Karipidis to fix a “critical” game between the teams so that Olympiacos would win.

Mr Karipidis refused and the game ended 2-2, with Olympiacos – who had won the league in the previous three seasons – finishing the season in third place.

Mr Hodson said: “During the game, Mr Marinakis became so angry that, according to Ms Karipidis, he threatened that Theodoros ‘would not leave the field alive’ if Olympiacos lost.

“At the end of the game, Mr Marinakis then told Theodoros, ‘you are finished’ and ‘I will destroy you’.

“Thereafter, Mr Marinakis began a campaign of intimidation and interference with the lives and businesses of Ms Karipidis and her brother.”

He continued the claim is “wholly unexplained if not as revenge for the Aris (versus) Olympiacos game” and that the damages sought were “utterly disproportionate”.

A further hearing in the case is now expected to be held at a later date.