Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis has issued a statement addressing the incident where he went onto the pitch and appeared to argue with manager Nuno Espirito Santo.
This notable event took place following Forest`s 2-2 draw against already relegated Leicester, a result that hampered their hopes of qualifying for European competition.
A visibly angry Marinakis walked onto the pitch after the final whistle. Initially, he seemed to be heading past Nuno.
However, he stopped and made angry gestures towards the manager while they exchanged words.
Marinakis`s frustration stemmed from striker Taiwo Awoniyi being allowed to remain on the field despite being injured.
The forward was hurt after colliding with the goalpost during an attempt to score.
Medical staff initially assessed Awoniyi and gave the go-ahead for him to continue, but later revised their decision.
Crucially, by that time, Nuno had already used his final substitution, bringing off Elliot Anderson.
Marinakis addressed the situation in a statement, which read: “Today is a day for celebration, because after 30 years Nottingham Forest is now guaranteed to be competing on the European stage once again – a promise I made to our supporters when we achieved promotion.
With two more games to go in the Premier League, we must keep believing and keep dreaming, right to the final kick in the final game.
We are extremely proud and close to Nuno and the team, and we must all celebrate the historic achievements of this season.
Everybody – coaching staff, players, supporters and including myself – we were frustrated around the injury of Taiwo and the medical staff’s misjudgement on Taiwo’s ability to continue the game.
This is natural, this is a demonstration of the passion we feel for our club. Let’s all be grateful, passionate and keep on dreaming.”
After the match, Nuno commented on the incident: “It was a tough moment, after the situation with [Taiwo Awoniyi] we had one man less after a misunderstanding.”
He added, “It`s difficult to control emotions when we had so much expectation on a day like this.”
When asked if the Awoniyi situation triggered the owner`s reaction, Nuno confirmed: “Yes, it was because of that. It was a misunderstanding, a miscommunication. I’m sorry, I cannot go much further.
It’s based on emotions, you cannot make a big deal out of it. It happens and it will happen again. With the emotions today, it’s understandable.”
Nuno later explained in his press conference: “It was a misunderstanding between the coaching and medical department and we were both frustrated.”
He emphasized the owner`s influence: “It is because of the owner`s passion that we are growing as a club. He pushes us. He wants us to do better.”
Nuno suggested that in a different scenario, Marinakis might have reacted differently, stating, “If it was the other way round maybe one ago he would say, `OK we have the job done that`s normal`.”
He concluded by acknowledging the owner`s contribution: “His desire and passion is to be a big club. Honestly, as a club we owe a lot to the Marinakis family.”
Marcus Bellamy