The excuse given by the owner of Nottingham Forest for spitting at the referee’s feet | Football

Referee Josh Smith told an independent regulatory commission: ‘As I walked through the tunnel at the end of the match, Mr Evangelos Marinakis, the owner of Nottingham Forest, was standing to my left at the end of the tunnel.

‘As I walked past him, he spat on the ground next to my left foot. This was also seen by James Mainwaring and Tim Robinson.’

Assistant referee Mainwaring said: ‘He didn’t say anything but when we approached him and were close he spat on the ground as we approached him.’

Fourth official, Mr Robinson, added: ‘I then came back out to further monitor the tunnel area and saw Mr Evangelos Marinakis make a spitting move as the match officials walked past him.’

The club has now appealed the Greek businessman’s five-match ban, claiming he was simply coughing and accidentally dropped some liquid on the floor next to the referees.

In his defense to the independent panel, he stated that he ‘suffered from a cough on the day of the match’ and ‘felt a cough coming on and so coughed on the floor’.

Marinakis smokes ‘two or three cigars a day’ and ‘frequently expectorates and/or coughs’, accepting ‘that mucus or saliva may have been produced, this was the result of coughing’, but if at all, ‘ that was certainly the case’. not focused on the
feet of the referee and didn’t hit anyone’.

The independent commission did not accept Marinakis’ reasoning, writing on Tuesday: ‘We are satisfied that he deliberately spat on the ground as the referee walked past him. Unfortunately, we consider EM’s (Marinakis) attempt to explain and justify his behavior to be completely implausible.