Evangelos Marinakis Sues Crystal Palace Over Controversial Banner

Evangelos Marinakis has launched a High Court defamation claim against Crystal Palace after a provocative banner depicting the Nottingham Forest owner holding a gun to the head of Morgan Gibbs-White was displayed at Selhurst Park last season.

The flag appeared in August, in the wake of Gibbs-White’s failed move to Tottenham. With the transfer collapsing, the midfielder instead signed a contract extension at the City Ground, a twist that clearly did not go unnoticed in south London. The banner went much further than simple mockery: it also carried lurid, unsubstantiated allegations about the Greek billionaire’s business dealings.

Marinakis has now decided that a line was crossed.

The Forest owner filed his claim in the High Court last week, escalating a row that had already drawn the attention of the Football Association. After an FA investigation into the incident in November, Palace were charged and fined £50,000 for the episode.

For Marinakis, that punishment is nowhere near enough.

He is understood to believe the banner caused global damage to his reputation and that the FA sanction does not address what he views as a serious and far-reaching personal and professional affront. Those close to the situation say he is determined to pursue the south London club to the full extent of the law.

At the heart of his case lies a simple contention: that Crystal Palace did not do enough to stop the banner being displayed, nor to ensure it was removed swiftly once it appeared. Marinakis is now seeking legal clarity on just how responsible the club can be held for the actions of the supporters who produced and unfurled the flag.

FA regulations place a clear duty on clubs to ensure their fans do not behave in a way that is “improper, offensive, abusive, insulting and/or provocative”. That obligation goes beyond chants and confrontations in the stands and extends to visual displays inside the stadium.

In defamation law, there are three broad grounds on which a claim can be built. A claimant can sue over the publication of alleged false statements, the creation of an image, or the decision to allow an image to be displayed. Marinakis’ legal team are expected to argue that the Selhurst Park banner falls squarely within that framework.

The case now drags a Premier League club into a courtroom battle that reaches well beyond the usual boundaries of football rivalry and terrace humour. It raises a sharp question: where does passionate fan expression end, and legally actionable defamation begin?

Sky Sports News has contacted Crystal Palace for comment. Nottingham Forest declined to comment on an ongoing legal matter.