Nottingham Forest owner found guilty of spitting near ref

Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis was given a five-match stadium ban for “misconduct” after he was found guilty of spitting at the feet of referee Josh Smith in the tunnel after their defeat by Fulham.

Marinakis denied the FA’s charge at his hearing but was handed a suspension on 18 October, with the full written judgment published on 22 October. Forest appealed Marinakis’ ban but he was absent from their 1-0 win over Crystal Palace. Monday at the city precinct.

In the FA’s prosecution, a quote attributed to referee Smith said: “As I was walking down the tunnel at the end of the match, Mr Evangelos Marinakis, the owner of Nottingham Forest, was on my left side at the end of the tunnel. As I went past him, he spat on the ground next to my left foot. That was also seen by (assistant referee) James Mainwaring and (fourth official) Tim Robinson.”

Marinakis, in his defense, said he was coughing. The defense said: “He smokes 2 or 3 cigars a day. He often needs to expectorate and/or cough. His cough contains phlegm. If he has to spit, he spits into a handkerchief if he has one or on the floor if he has one. He doesn’t have none available Sometimes when you cough, spit or phlegm can go on the floor.

“On the day of the incident he was suffering from a hacking cough. He was taking pills. As the officials approached he heard a cough coming and coughed on the ground, down and to his right which was far from the road where the officials were. taking .

“He didn’t speak to the umpires. He doesn’t remember now if any saliva came out of his mouth, but if he did (and he doesn’t dispute that some might have) he certainly didn’t aim at the umpire’s feet and hit no one

“He doesn’t see how coughing (where anyone’s spit or phlegm can come out) onto the floor in a relatively crowded tunnel is bad behavior.”

In response, referee Smith says he did not see Marinakis cough when he was standing at the end of the tunnel. Having reviewed the footage, the FA’s statement said: “We are of the view that the footage does not support the suggestion that Marinakis coughed. Normally, if someone was about to cough, common decency demands that ​shut your mouth

“We are certain that Marinakis would have covered his mouth if he had been about to cough while someone was approaching in the opposite direction. Alternatively, he could have turned around. In our view, the footage does not suggest that he turned in absolute”.

Subsequently, the FA sanctioned him for five matches.

News of Marinakis’ ban on Friday last week came on the same day Forest manager Nuno Espírito Santo was handed a three-match touchline ban and fined £55,000 for misconduct in Forest’s 2-2 draw with Brighton in September.

Midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White was also banned for one match and fined £20,000 after acting “in an inappropriate manner and/or using abusive and/or insulting words towards the fourth official after being sent off” in the same match He held out in Monday’s win over Palace.