Nottingham Forest's chairman embroiled in fiery confrontation at European basketball championship finale

Evangelos Marinakis, the owner of Nottingham Forest, was reportedly embroiled in a heated dispute during the Euroleague Basketball final in Athens on Sunday, with social media videos capturing the Nottingham Forest FC owner engaged in a verbal altercation in the stands as security personnel stepped in to intervene.

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Marinakis, who also owns Olympiacos B.C, was in attendance to watch Olympiacos secure a 92-85 victory over Real Madrid Baloncesto, according to reports on Monday by BBC Sport, which included footage of the incident.

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The footage appeared to show the 58-year-old wearing a ripped shirt and involved in a confrontation with another individual, separated by barriers and security officials, although the person he was arguing with was not clearly visible in the video.

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Greek media reports later identified the other individual as Grigoris Dimitriadis, a former adviser to Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, but this claim has not been officially confirmed.

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Nottingham Forest was approached for comment regarding the incident, as reported by BBC Sport, which was still awaiting a response from the club.

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The altercation occurred on the same day that Forest concluded their Premier League campaign with a 1-1 draw against AFC Bournemouth, resulting in a 16th-place finish on the table.

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Marinakis has previously faced controversy during his ownership of the English club, including a five-match stadium ban in 2024 after being found guilty of improper conduct following Forest’s defeat to Fulham FC.

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Late in 2024, the club was fined £750,000 after a social media post questioned the integrity of VAR official Stuart Attwell following a match against Everton FC, with the Football Association describing the post as “ill-chosen and irresponsible.”