Evangelos Marinakis sues Greek rival over alleged ‘smear campaign’

Nottingham Forest’s owner, Evangelos Marinakis, is suing a Greek football rival for more than £2.1m in a high court libel claim over an alleged “smear campaign” including “false” allegations of match-fixing. Marinakis, a shipping magnate who also owns Olympiakos, is suing Irini Karipidis, the owner of Aris, over allegations made on a website, social media and mobile billboards between November 2023 and March 2024.

A hearing on Thursday was told the allegations, which Marinakis denies, include that he was involved in match-fixing and a high-profile drug trafficking case in Greece.

Barristers for Marinakis said the allegations were “completely untrue” and that the case should proceed in an English court because it had a “real prospect of success”.

David Sherborne, for Marinakis, said in written submissions: “The allegations which Mr Marinakis complains of are completely untrue and nothing in the defendants’ evidence comes anywhere close to substantiating them.”

He continued: “[The claims] involved false allegations highly defamatory of Mr Marinakis, making accusations that he was guilty of being leader of a criminal organisation, guilty of match-fixing practices including extortion, fraud and arson, as well as there being strong grounds to suspect him of deep and active involvement in international heroin trafficking.”

The court heard that allegations were made against Marinakis on nottinghamforestfire.co.uk, with three articles published in November 2023. An account was also created on X 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 the City Ground on two matchdays. The YouTube channel, X account and website were later taken down.

Sherborne said that the publications were designed to “give the false impression” that the campaign was a “grassroots” initiative led by Nottingham Forest fans relating to the club’s ownership.

Marinakis is also suing Amani Swiss (Cyprus) Limited, a company of which Karipidis is president, and the Israeli national Ari Harow, and his company, Sheyaan Consulting Limited. Sherborne said Harow is a political consultant and chief executive of Sheyaan Consulting and is the former chief of staff to the Israel prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

Matthew Hodson, for Karipidis, told the court that the publications were “procured or created by a US PR firm” named Harris Media, which was paid $25,000 but is not involved in the case. However, he said the social media campaign had “limited publication”, telling the court that it “fared pathetically” and that there was no evidence of “actual harm” to Marinakis’s reputation.

Hodson continued that the dispute stemmed from an incident at a match between Olympiakos and Aris. It was claimed that in the 2022-23 season, Marinakis approached Karipidis’s brother Theodoros to fix a “critical” game between the teams so that Olympiakos would win and that Theodoros Karipidis refused. The game ended 2-2, with Olympiakos going on to miss out on a fourth successive title.

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.”

The barrister continued that Marinakis “seeks to harass the defendants” and that Irini Karipidis and her family had suffered “very real criminal damage and arson” as a result.

The hearing before Richard Spearman KC, sitting as a deputy high court judge, continues.