Evangelos Marinakis Files Defamation Claim Against Crystal Palace

Evangelos Marinakis has launched High Court proceedings against Crystal Palace over a controversial banner displayed by home supporters during last season’s Premier League meeting with Nottingham Forest at Selhurst Park.

The Forest owner has filed a defamation claim, with his lawyers lodging the action on Monday. CPFC Limited, the company behind Crystal Palace, is named as one of two defendants.

The legal move stems from a banner unfurled in the Holmesdale stand during a 1-1 draw between Palace and Forest last August. It showed Marinakis holding a gun to the head of Forest midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White, alongside the words: “Mr Marinakis is not involved in blackmail, match-fixing, drug trafficking or corruption.”

The message, dripping with sarcasm, cut straight to the heart of long-standing allegations that have followed Marinakis throughout his ownership career. He has repeatedly and consistently denied any wrongdoing in relation to such claims.

The fallout did not stop at full-time. In November 2025, the Football Association charged Palace with failing to ensure their supporters did not behave in an improper, offensive, abusive or provocative manner. The banner was not singled out in the charge sheet, but the regulations are clear: clubs are responsible for ensuring there is no defamatory, political or offensive messaging inside their grounds.

This case now pushes that issue into a different arena. From the stands to the courtroom.

The image struck a raw nerve not only because it targeted Marinakis, but because it dragged one of Forest’s key players into the storm. Gibbs-White, an England international, had been at the centre of intense transfer speculation last summer. Tottenham appeared to trigger a £60m release clause, opening the door to a possible move away from the City Ground.

Instead, he stayed. Gibbs-White signed a new contract with Forest and later discussed his decision in an interview conducted alongside Marinakis, a clear show of unity between owner and player at a time when Forest were trying to project stability and ambition.

That backdrop adds another layer to the legal fight. The banner did not just lampoon a wealthy owner; it framed him in a way his camp now argues crosses the line from mockery into defamation, with one of his star players cast as a prop in the scene.

There is sporting context, too. Marinakis-owned Forest stepped into the Europa League last season after Palace were relegated to the Conference League, punished for breaching Uefa’s multi-club ownership rules. Forest rose into the vacancy; Palace dropped down a tier in Europe.

Now the rivalry between the two clubs carries a sharper edge. One battle played out on the pitch, another in Uefa’s disciplinary corridors. The next will unfold in the High Court, where a banner waved for a few minutes in south London could carry serious consequences long after the final whistle.