Football: Stadium Ban on Owner of Nottingham Forest FC
By Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw
The owner of Nottingham Forest FC, Evangelos Marinakis, has been given a five-match stadium ban for spitting on the floor as match officials walked past him in the tunnel after his team’s 1-0 defeat by Fulham FC on 28 September.
A Disciplinary Commission found him guilty of improper conduct, stating that there was “no excuse” for such “an egregious display of disrespectful behaviour” and adding that such behaviour could “fuel disrespect towards match officials.”
The Commission dismissed his defence that he had a hacking cough from smoking two or three cigars daily and that the incident was unintentional, as the evidence did not support these claims.
Furthermore, the Commission has also dismissed his claims that a tunnel and dressing room ban would be a sufficient penalty, as he was not required in those areas after a game.
The Commission took the view that the case was one of serious misconduct, meriting a severe punishment to act as a deterrent against such behaviour.
In any case, spitting against match officials is utterly unsportsmanlike and brings the beautiful game into disrepute!
Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw may be contacted by e-mail at ‘
