‘Guilty, this may come back to haunt him’ -Marinakis in hot water as Forest-Palace controversy takes twist
Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis has been warned that his involvement in Crystal Palace’s UEFA controversy could come back to haunt him.
The Greek billionaire encouraged the European Football Association to look into the situation at Palace and whether John Textor breached multi-club ownership rules.
This ultimately led to the Eagles being demoted to the Conference League, and Nottingham Forest moving up to the Europa League.
Palace have submitted an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), as they think they have done nothing wrong.
Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – believes that Marinakis could now be the one under the spotlight.
‘Forest will hope Marinakis is not hiding anything‘
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, Wyness insisted that Marinakis’ discussions with UEFA could come back to bite him if he has something to hide.
If Palace win their appeal at CAS, they will be reinstated into the Europa League, with Nottingham Forest falling back into the Conference League.
Wyness revealed that he hopes the South London club are successful in their case, as it would maintain a feeling of football merit.
He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: “Well, the most recent development is that Palace have now gone to UEFA and asked for copies of the correspondence that UEFA had with Forest.
“This seems like a tit-for-tat battle. Marinakis has basically gone in and reported Palace or raised the question about Palace, and now they are having to go back at Forest.
“I hope Marinakis hasn’t got anything to hide because this is one that may come back to haunt him. It does often. I’ve seen it myself, and I’ve been guilty of this in the past when I’ve accused people of doing things that I’ve done myself. You’ve got to be careful and not be a hypocrite in many ways.
“If Palace can show CAS that there was some other extenuating circumstances, preferential treatment or other situations that went against the rules that are being imposed on them, then they have a better chance of success.
“I hope Palace get back into Europa League because I think they did it on merit and they deserve to get there.
“I understand the whole point about following rules but something just doesn’t feel right about this. I don’t think Texter was involved that much in terms of Palace. I don’t think it really fits the MCO rules that UEFA put in there.
“I hope they are successful at CAS because that would mean that they get there on football merit, which to me is what we’ve got to keep trying to keep in our focus as the main reason for football going forward.”
Forest lead race for Villa star
Meanwhile, Nottingham Forest are the current front-runners in their pursuit of Aston Villa star Jacob Ramsey despite growing interest from rival clubs, sources have told Football Insider.
Forest are facing competition from the likes of Everton, who are planning an ambitious move for the midfielder as they aim to bolster David Moyes’ squad.
Football Insider exclusively revealed on 18 July that Aston Villa could accept £50million for Ramsey, with Gibbs-White’s exit potentially facilitating the move.
Forest would be prepared to move ahead of rivals for his signature, with the allure of European football and willingness to spend big giving them an advantage.
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