Evangelos Marinakis, the owner of Nottingham Forest and Olympiakos, was filmed in a heated altercation in the stands of the OAKA Arena in Athens on Sunday night, moments after his Olympiakos basketball side were beaten 81-70 by Fenerbahce in the Euroleague final. Footage circulating on Greek television and social media showed the 58-year-old shipping magnate gesturing furiously at a figure seated nearby, before being ushered away by members of his security detail with the final-buzzer confetti still falling on the court below.
The incident, captured by multiple broadcast cameras tracking the VIP section, lasted close to a minute. Marinakis, dressed in a dark suit and the red-and-white scarf of his hometown club, was seen jabbing a finger across two rows of seating and shouting in Greek. Olympiakos, the reigning Greek champions and tournament hosts, had led 38-37 at half-time before Fenerbahce pulled clear in the fourth quarter behind 22 points from Wade Baldwin. It is the second consecutive Euroleague final defeat for the Piraeus club, who lost to Panathinaikos in Berlin last May.
What the cameras caught
The altercation was first picked up by host broadcaster Cosmote TV during a routine cutaway following Nigel Hayes-Davis’s match-sealing three-pointer with 42 seconds remaining. Marinakis, watching alongside his wife and Olympiakos basketball president Panagiotis Angelopoulos, was visible rising from his courtside box and turning toward a man in the row behind. Lip-readers retained by Greek outlet SDNA suggested the exchange centred on a refereeing decision in the third quarter, when Olympiakos forward Sasha Vezenkov was called for a controversial offensive foul that erased what would have been a tying basket.
Two stewards and a plain-clothes security officer moved between the parties within seconds. Marinakis did not throw a punch, nor did the unidentified second man, and Athens police confirmed on Monday morning that no complaint had been filed and no arrests were made. The Hellenic Basketball Federation declined to comment when contacted, citing Sunday’s events as a matter for Euroleague Basketball’s competition office, which has a 14-day window to open disciplinary proceedings if it deems the conduct warranted.
A familiar flashpoint
This is not the first time Marinakis has been filmed reacting forcefully to a result involving one of his clubs. In February 2024 he marched on to the pitch at the City Ground after Forest’s 1-0 home defeat by Liverpool, confronting referee Paul Tierney over a disallowed Callum Hudson-Odoi goal. The Football Association charged him with improper conduct and he was fined £30,000 and warned about his future behaviour. In Greece, where he has owned Olympiakos since 2010, he was banned from football for five years in 2018 after a match-fixing investigation, a sanction that was overturned on appeal in 2020.
His tenure at Forest has been similarly turbulent on the regulatory front. The club were docked four points last March for breaching the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules, a deduction that left them battling relegation until the final weekend. Forest finished 17th, two points clear of Luton Town. Marinakis has since overseen a £180m summer recruitment drive and the appointment of Nuno Espirito Santo as head coach, with the club currently sitting eighth in the Premier League table.
What happens next
Euroleague Basketball’s disciplinary code permits sanctions ranging from a private reprimand to a stadium ban for club officials whose conduct is deemed to bring the competition into disrepute. Any action against Marinakis would carry no direct consequence for Nottingham Forest, who are governed by separate Premier League and FA rules, but it would add to a file that the English authorities are understood to monitor when assessing the owners’ and directors’ test.
Olympiakos now turn their attention to the Greek Basket League play-off final against Panathinaikos, which begins on Wednesday. Marinakis is expected to be courtside. Forest, meanwhile, host West Ham at the City Ground on Saturday in their penultimate league fixture of the season, with a place in next year’s Europa Conference League still mathematically within reach.
- Final score: Fenerbahce 81-70 Olympiakos (Euroleague final, Athens)
- Top scorer: Wade Baldwin, 22 points (Fenerbahce)
- Olympiakos: Second straight Euroleague final defeat
- Previous Marinakis incident: £30,000 FA fine, February 2024
- Forest league position: Eighth, Premier League
A spokesperson for Marinakis had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
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