Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis on trial in Greece

He's dismissed the case as 'groundless'

142 fans of Greek Super League side Olympiakos, where Marinakis is a majority chairman, have been accused of running a crime organisation and causing life-threatening explosions at sporting events.

Greek shipping and media billionaire Marinakis has been charged with supporting the alleged criminal group during 2019-24.

The 58-year-old has also been accused of "instigating violence with statements against authorities."

Both Marinakis and the group of football supporters have denied all wrongdoing in relation to the accusations.

Nottingham Forest's owner was not in attendance at the Athens court when the trial began on Monday, and was instead represented by his lawyer. His legal team have dismissed the misdemeanour charges as groundless.

The full proceedings are predicted to take a year to conclude, and will see more than 200 people testify.

While fan-related violence has plagued Greek sport for years, this latest round of legal action was prompted by the death of a 31-year-old riot police officer in 2023.

George Lyngeridis incurred fatal injuries as a result of clashes outside a women’s volleyball match between Olympiakos and Panathinaikos.

Lyngeridis's death was the third case of a fatality in 2022-2023, prompting a crackdown from a top prosecutor.