Nottingham are confident they have acted in time to avoid a breach of UEFA’s rules on multi-club ownership should they qualify for the Champions League next season via winning the Europa League.
Domestically, the club are battling relegation from the Premier League, but they are also in the semi-finals of the Europa League, where they face domestic rivals Aston Villa over two legs.
This has raised the possibility of Forest qualifying for Europe’s leading competition (through winning the Europa League) next season, which is where the issue of multi-club ownership comes in.
UEFA rules stipulate that “no individual or legal entity may have ‘control or decisive influence’ over more than one club” competing in the same European competition. If clubs cannot adhere to those rules, only one of them will be allowed to compete in that UEFA club competition.
Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis also owns Olympiacos (as well as Rio Ave of Portugal) and with the Greek club battling for a spot in next season’s Champions League via the Greek Super League, either they or Forest would face losing their spot, should they both qualify.
On Friday, a filing at Companies House in the UK confirmed Marinakis had stepped back from his role at the City Ground, but the timing of this announcement led to questions over whether it had been done in time.
Here, we explain the situation and why the club feel they have worked within the rules.
Forest beat Porto in the Europa League quarter-finals (Paul ELLIS / AFP via Getty Images)
What is the issue? What is a ‘blind trust’?
Most notable among the filings at Companies House on Friday, April 17, was the declaration of the cessation of Marinakis as a person with significant control at Forest.
The UEFA deadline for club owners with an interest in more than one club — in Marinakis’ case, that is Greek club Olympiacos — to put their shares into a ‘blind trust’ was officially March 1.
The arrangement, meant for UEFA compliance, requires an independent trustee or trustees to manage the shares, restricting Marinakis’ influence to avoid any allegations of conflicts of interest. Marinakis can have no say in the running of the club while it is in place.
The fact official confirmation of this happening did not come until April 17 raised questions, especially among fans, but Forest have no concerns about their position.
What is Forest’s point of view?
Forest say they put everything in place at the end of February to ensure they would work within UEFA’s multi-club ownership rules.
The delay in the announcements from Companies House confirming those changes was related, Forest say, to the new directors having to pass the owners’ and directors’ test with the Premier League, before their appointments could be officially confirmed.
On February 28, it was publicly confirmed that Jonathan Owen, Simon Forster and Michael Dugher had all stepped down from the Forest board, as part of the preparations for the required changes to the make-up of the Forest hierarchy.
It was also confirmed on Friday, via Companies House, that Eleanor Walsh, Henry Hickman and Janet Gibson had all been appointed to the Forest board.
According to Forest, they had all officially agreed to take their positions at the end of February, and that all the required documentation was put in place and shown to UEFA before the March 1 deadline.
When contacted by The Athletic, UEFA said it does not comment on individual club cases.
Marinakis’ shares could not be transferred to the new entity until they had that Premier League approval. The blind trust will be overseen by a group titled Pittville Four Limited, which is the same process that happened last season.
The new directors all had to go through the owners’ and directors’ test, which Forest say was completed late last week.
The Premier League has also been contacted.
Forest beat Burnley on Sunday (Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Is this the same process Forest went through last season?
Yes, although there are some different people involved.
Forest say they benefited from knowing what they needed to do to satisfy UEFA regulations and feel they are well placed to complete the process.
Marinakis, from this point, will again not officially be able to have a role in the day-to-day running of Forest.
Should they drop out of the Europa League in the semi-finals or fail to win in the final, the need for this restructuring would end.
What is the current state of play for Forest and Olympiacos?
Forest will hope to qualify for the Champions League by winning the Europa League — just as Tottenham did last season.
Forest face Aston Villa in the semi-finals on Thursday, April 30 (at home) and Thursday, May 7 (away). The winners will face either Freiburg or Braga in the final.
Olympiacos are in the Championship play-off phase of Greek football where they are facing off with AEK Athens, PAOK, and Panathinaikos to decide the top four positions.
In Greek football, the title winners will secure Champions League qualification. The team that finishes second will also qualify, but will normally enter into the qualifying round of the tournament.
Does Marinakis own Forest and Olympiacos?
Marinakis has been the majority shareholder and president of Olympiacos since 2010. He purchased Nottingham Forest, along with Sokratis Kominakis as a minority shareholder, in May 2017.
The Marinakis football empire also includes Portuguese club Rio Ave, where he became the majority shareholder in November 2023. But it is his ownership of Olympiacos and Forest that are pertinent right now.
What happened to Crystal Palace with multi-club rules last season?
Palace qualified for the Europa League last season after winning the FA Cup. However, UEFA moved them down to the Conference League due to multi-club ownership rules.
At the time, French club Lyon’s majority owner, the Eagle Football organisation, led by U.S. businessman John Textor, also had a 43 per cent stake in Palace.
Lyon were granted qualification to the Europa League ahead of Palace by merit of their higher league finish in French football. UEFA found Palace had not adhered to the regulations and Forest benefited, as they were promoted into the Europa League in their place.
