Premier League set to investigate Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis after club promotion

Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis is under intense scrutiny from the Premier League following his promotion.

The Greek shipping tycoon was deemed fit to own a club by the EFL before completing his £50million purchase from Forest five years ago, despite facing multiple inquiries over allegations of match-fixing and drug trafficking.

But the Premier League is making its test tougher as it seeks to ward off the threat of an independent regulator.

Marinakis was charged with several serious crimes in Greece before being cleared.

In 2019, the owner of Olympiakos was charged with match-fixing and involvement in criminal gangs before being acquitted by the Court of Appeal two years later, and last year a Greek judge ruled that there was no evidence after being charged with heroin trafficking.

UEFA have also launched an investigation into the match-fixing allegations, but unlike the Greek authorities, no charges have been brought.

Marinakis was charged with several serious offenses in 2019 before being cleared

The Premier League has concerns given the allegations and contacted the EFL after Forest qualified for the Championship play-offs. The 54-year-old, who has turned a small family shipping business into a sprawling fleet of tankers and container ships worth over £2billion, does not appear to be breaching any of the disqualifying terms of the Premier League, which include unspent criminal convictions, being disqualified as a director or subject to insolvency proceedings.

The league’s legal team, however, are keen to establish whether there is evidence Marinakis was involved in overseas conduct which would have resulted in a conviction in the UK.

This element contributed to the long delay in the takeover of Newcastle by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, due to concerns over links to the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

This element contributed to the long delay in the takeover of Newcastle by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund

There is no question of Forest being denied a promotion as the owners’ test contains a provision allowing disqualified shareholders to be given time to divest themselves of their stake in a club.

A desire to avoid regulation has led the Premier League to consider strengthening the test by including areas such as human rights and ethical considerations.

In addition to being used before a recovery, it is applicable following the promotion of a club.

The Premier League declined to comment.

There’s no way Forest will be denied promotion after winning the play-off final