Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis is suing Crystal Palace over a banner unfurled by their fans depicting him holding a gun to midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White.
Marinakis’ lawyers lodged a defamation claim in the High Court on Monday, with CPFC Limited listed as one of the two defendents.
The banner, which was shown during a 1-1 Premier League draw between the two sides at Selhurst Park last August, read: “Mr Marinakis is not involved in blackmail, match-fixing, drug trafficking or corruption.”
Marinakis has always denied such claims.
In November 2025, the Football Association had charged Palace with failing to ensure that supporters did not behave in an improper, offensive, abusive or provocative way.
Forest and Palace’s rivalry
Gibbs-White looked set to join Tottenham last summer after they triggered his £60million release clause, only for the England international to sign a new deal at the City Ground.
The 26-year-old explained his decision alongside Marinakis in a video posted on Forest’s social media.
Tensions have boiled between the two clubs in the last year, after Palace were demoted from the Europa League last season to relegated to the Conference League after breaking UEFA’s multi-club ownership rules.
The decision was reportedly made following a complaint by Marinakis, who saw his Forest side promoted to the Europa League as a result.
The Eagles eventually went on to win the Conference League, their first-ever European trophy, while Forest reached the semi-finals of the Europa League.
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