Forest owner Marinakis accused of match-fixing in Greece by defendant in UK libel lawsuit

reuters_tickers

(This Oct. 31 story has been refiled to clarify the source of the accusation, in the headline)

By Sam Tobin

LONDON (Reuters) – Evangelos Marinakis, a Greek shipping magnate and owner of English Premier League soccer club Nottingham Forest, was on Thursday accused of trying to fix a Greek soccer match, in a London libel lawsuit he is bringing over an alleged smear campaign in Britain.

Marinakis launched the libel case against Irini Karipidis, chair of Greek Super League club Aris Thessaloniki, and others at London’s High Court this year.

He alleges Karipidis was behind a website containing allegations Marinakis was involved in match fixing, drug smuggling and shipping Russian oil in breach of sanctions, which he strongly denies.

Marinakis’ lawyers say the campaign involved driving a mobile billboard around Nottingham Forest’s ground before two matches in 2023, directing people to the website.

Karipidis, however, says she has “a clear defence of truth” to the libel lawsuit. She asked the court to overturn permission granted in May to serve the lawsuit on her outside of England.

Her lawyer Matthew Hodson said in court documents that Marinakis had started a campaign against Karipidis after her brother Theodoros refused to fix a game between Aris and Olympiakos, which is owned by Marinakis, in 2023.

Hodson said in the document that during the game, which finished 2-2, Marinakis “became so angry that according to (Irini Karipidis) he threatened that Theodoros ‘would not leave the field alive’ if Olympiakos lost”.

Marinakis’ lawyer David Sherborne said in court documents that the allegation had been made in open court simply to generate adverse publicity.

He argued Karipidis’ application to revoke permission to serve the case on her was “a transparent attempt to further their campaign” against Marinakis.

Ari Harow, a former aide to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyah, is also a defendant, with Marinakis alleging Harow facilitated payments to support the alleged smear campaign.

His lawyer Ali Sinai said in court documents that the case against Harow should also be thrown out.