A court has ruled that Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis can continue his libel lawsuit against one of his rivals from Greek football who ran an alleged “smear campaign” against him.
The shipping magnate — who also owns Olympiacos in Piraeus, Athens — brought the case against Irini Karipidis, chairperson of rival club Aris Thessaloniki, and three other claimants, including Ari Harow, formerly the chief of staff to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Marinakis says Karipidis is behind an anti-Forest website called nottinghamforestfire.co.uk which has alleged the Forest owner is involved in match-fixing, drug smuggling and is also the leader of a criminal organisation known as ‘The System’.
GO DEEPER
Marinakis and the extraordinary legal claims of a ‘smear campaign’ linking him to drug smuggling and match-fixing
He believes a social media account, a YouTube channel and two mobile billboards driven around Nottingham before home games were set up as part of a six-month campaign of “false and defamatory” claims.
The 57-year-old, whose team has won their last six Premier League matches and are challenging for a Champions League place, strongly denies these allegations.
A judge ruled on Friday that Marinakis can continue with the claim after Karipidis asked the High Court to overturn permission to serve her the lawsuit on the grounds of jurisdiction. Her lawyers said the claim “lacks merit” and an English court is “not the most appropriate place” for it.
However, in a written ruling, Richard Spearman KC, said the “claim seems well worth bringing”.
Forest are next in action against Luton Town in the third round of the FA Cup on Saturday.
(Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
