EFL to assess Forest takeover amid match-fixing accusations

(Picture: Action Images via Reuters)

The EFL is assessing the takeover bid for Nottingham Forest by Olympiakos owner Evangelos Marinakis as he looks to buy the club from Fawaz Al Hasawi.

The takeover would end Al Hasawi’s controversial five-year spell as owner at the City Ground, but the bid is being assessed with heavy focus on accusations of match-fixing held against Marinakis in his native Greece.

The Olympiakos owner, 49, denies the allegations, but is still waiting to find out whether the case against him will go to trial and that could threaten his Forest bid.

Since 2015, Marinakis, along with a number of football officials in his homeland, has been facing allegations surrounding a match-fixing conspiracy involving Greek domestic games between 2011 and 2013.

However, while the EFL are to conduct their ‘fit and proper person test’ on Marinakis, he is expected to get approval because he hasn’t being found guilty of committing any crime.

An FA spokesman said: “A change of control at Nottingham Forest is currently being assessed by the EFL Executive within the context of our regulations.”

Current Forest owner Al Hasawi has been hunting for someone to takeover the club for months now, with Marinakis failing with a bid last September before a bid from a US consortium led by John Jay Moores collapsed in January.

Mark Warburton‘s side survived relegation to League One on the final day of the Championship season, with a 3-0 win over Ipswich on Sunday securing their place in the second tier on goal difference.

In the immediate aftermath of the game, Al Fasawi said Marinakis’ deal to takeover was 99% complete, and the shipping magnate will hope to bring his winning mentality to Forest.

Since buying Olympiakos in 2010, Marinakis has seen the Greek giants win a staggering seven league titles to consolidate their position as the country’s most successful club.