Evangelos Marinakis Initiates High Court Defamation Claim Against Crystal Palace

Evangelos Marinakis has launched a High Court defamation claim against Crystal Palace after a provocative banner depicting the Nottingham Forest owner holding a gun to the head of Morgan Gibbs-White was displayed at Selhurst Park last season.

The image, unfurled in August, came at a febrile moment. Gibbs-White had just seen a proposed move to Tottenham collapse and instead committed his future to Forest with a contract extension at the City Ground. The banner went far beyond simple mockery: it included lurid, unproven claims about the Greek billionaire’s business dealings, turning a transfer saga into something far darker.

Marinakis has now decided the fallout cannot be left to football’s disciplinary system. He filed his claim in the High Court last week, escalating the matter from the stands to the legal arena.

Palace have already faced punishment within the game. Following an FA investigation concluded in November, the club were charged over the incident and fined £50,000. That, though, has not drawn a line under the affair. Sky Sports News understands Marinakis believes the sanction falls well short of addressing what he regards as global damage to his reputation and is intent on pursuing the south London club as far as the law allows.

At the heart of his case is a simple contention: Crystal Palace, he believes, did nothing meaningful to prevent the banner being displayed and did not act quickly enough to remove it once it appeared. His legal team are now working to establish precisely how responsible the club can be held for the presence of the flag inside Selhurst Park.

FA regulations place clear obligations on clubs. They must ensure their supporters do not engage in behaviour that is “improper, offensive, abusive, insulting and/or provocative”. That duty covers what is displayed in the stands as much as what is chanted from them.

In defamation law, there are several routes for a claimant. One is the publication of allegedly false statements. Another, highly relevant here, is the creation or display of an image that is said to damage a person’s reputation. Marinakis’ action rests in that territory: not over something written in a newspaper, but over a visual message broadcast to a stadium and, via television and social media, far beyond it.

Crystal Palace have been contacted for comment. Nottingham Forest, when approached, declined to comment on what they described as an ongoing legal matter.

The FA’s fine has been paid. The banner is long gone. The argument over who should answer for it is only just beginning.