Nottingham Forest owner Marinakis’ court case starts in London

Evangelos Marinakis, a Greek shipping magnate and owner of English Premier League soccer club Nottingham Forest, was on Thursday accused of trying to fix a Greek soccer match, in a London libel lawsuit he is bringing over an alleged smear campaign in Britain.

Marinakis launched the libel case against Irini Karipidis, chair of Greek Super League club Aris Thessaloniki, and others at London's High Court this year.

He alleges Karipidis was behind a website containing allegations Marinakis was involved in match fixing, drug smuggling and shipping Russian oil in breach of sanctions, which he strongly denies.

Marinakis' lawyers say the campaign involved driving a mobile billboard around Nottingham Forest's ground before two matches in 2023, directing people to the website.

Karipidis, however, says she has "a clear defence of truth" to the libel lawsuit. She...