Nottingham Forest are confident that evangelos marinakis took the necessary steps in time to avoid breaching UEFA’s multi-club ownership rules if the club qualify for next season’s Champions League. The issue has intensified as Forest remain in the Premier League relegation battle and also sit in the semi-finals of the Europa League, with Aston Villa standing in their way over two legs. The club believe the relevant changes were put in place at the end of February, ahead of the March 1 UEFA deadline.
Forest’s position on evangelos marinakis
The central concern is simple: UEFA rules say no individual or legal entity may have control or decisive influence over more than one club in the same European competition. Evangelos Marinakis also owns Olympiacos, and with the Greek club chasing a Champions League place through the Greek Super League, a clash could emerge if both clubs qualify. Forest say they have already handled that risk within the required timeframe.
A filing at Companies House in the United Kingdom on Friday, April 17, confirmed Marinakis had stepped back from his role at the City Ground. That timing prompted questions about whether the move came too late, but Forest insist the formal announcement lagged behind the actual changes. They say the arrangements were completed at the end of February, with the documentation shared with UEFA before the March 1 deadline.
What the filings show
The filings released on Friday, April 17, included the cessation of Marinakis as a person with significant control at Forest. They also showed that Jonathan Owen, Simon Forster and Michael Dugher had stepped down from the board on February 28, while Eleanor Walsh, Henry Hickman and Janet Gibson were appointed to the board. Forest say the new directors had already agreed to take their positions at the end of February, but the official confirmation had to wait until the Premier League owners’ and directors’ test was completed.
That delay, Forest argue, affected the timing of the public record but not the underlying compliance process. Their position is that the club acted first and filed later, and that this sequence kept them within UEFA’s multi-club ownership rules.
UEFA scrutiny and the wider stakes
The stakes are significant because only one club may be allowed into a UEFA competition if the rules cannot be met. Forest and Olympiacos are both in positions where European qualification remains possible, which is why the structure around evangelos marinakis has drawn close attention.
UEFA declined to comment on individual club cases when contacted. That leaves Forest’s internal assurances and the Companies House timeline as the clearest public indicators of what happened and when.
What happens next
Forest now wait for the footballing side of the equation to play out, with their Europa League semi-final and domestic situation both still live. If qualification for the Champions League becomes relevant, the club say the compliance question should already be settled. For now, evangelos marinakis remains at the center of a case that could matter well beyond Nottingham if Forest reach Europe’s top competition.
