Nottingham Forest and Olympiacos owner Evangelos Marinakis has gone on trial in Athens, Greece, after being accused of instigating football violence and supporting a criminal organisation.
Marinakis, a Greek businessman who is the principal shareholder of companies operating in the shipping, media and football sectors, is involved in the trial that authorities are calling the nation's most significant crackdown on sports-related violence.
The 58-year-old and four other Olympiacos board members are accused of instigating violence with statements against authorities and of supporting a criminal group between 2019 to 2024. They have dismissed misdemeanour charges as groundless.
Marinakis' lawyer, Vassilis Dimakopoulos, represented the football club owner in the courtroom at Athens' high-security Korydallos prison. He played down the accusations, calling them "totally baseless", as per BBC Sport.
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A total of 142 fans are also facing charges of participating in a criminal organisation and causing life-threatening explosions at sporting events. They have denied wrongdoing.
The investigation was launched following the fatal injury suffered by riot police officer George Lyngeridis, who was killed outside a women's volleyball match between Olympiacos and Panathinaikos in December 2023.
Lyngeridis was hit by a flare during the clashes and died from his injuries weeks later. It is said some fans moved a bag of flares and makeshift explosives from a storage room at their football stadium to the volleyball venue.
As per a report from Reuters, the crowd could be heard shouting, "We'll kill you!", according to prosecutors, during an attack on police that led to the fatal injury of Lyngeridis.
Lyngeridis' mother, Evgenia Stratou, said her son never expected to be in such danger. She said: "That day, it wasn't that simple. They were organised, coordinated."
Lawyers estimate the trial could last years, with more than 210 people testifying before a three-member bench.
“This is a landmark trial," said Vaso Pantazi, who represents one of the defendants. She added that her client and others "were in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
The trial, meanwhile, is on such a large scale that heavily armed police blocked off the street outside the courtroom on Wednesday morning.
The BBC report that there was no organised gathering in a show of support to the defendants, but some Olympiacos fans were present.
Topics: Nottingham Forest, Premier League
Jack Kenmare