Nottingham Forest’s billionaire owner Evangelos Marinakis was left bruised and boiling with rage after a public dust-up with the Greek Prime Minister’s nephew.
Marinakis, 58, suffered a bruise near his right eye and a ripped shirt from the encounter with Grigoris Dimitriadis, his spring chicken rival aged 47.
The duo were in the VIP section for the EuroLeague basketball final between Olympiacos and Real Madrid in Athens on Sunday.
But they clashed before a ball had even been bounced – and only hours after Forest’s Premier League campaign had finished.
The pair exchanged heated words, shouting at each other from opposite sides of a barrier and security workers.
Olympiacos FC vice president Kostas Karapapas also appeared to be involved in the verbal jousting.
Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis was left bruised by the bust-up
The Greek billionaire looked enraged and suffered a ripped shirt during the encounter
And the fracas that followed resulted in Marinakis being bundled away looking worse for wear – though the night ended in delight as Olympiacos, the club he owns, ran out 92-85 winners.
It was a dramatic end to what has been a chaotic season for Marinakis.
At Nottingham Forest, he has cycled through four managers: Nuno Espirito Santo, Ange Postecoglou, Sean Dyche, and Vitor Pereira.
He has watched the Midlands club struggle against relegation – eventually finishing 16th – and reach the semi-finals of the Europa League, where they lost 4-1 on aggregate to Aston Villa.
In April, he diluted his duties at Forest due to the possibility of them qualifying for the Champions League through the Europa League.
UEFA has strict rules on multi-club ownership and would not allow both Forest and Olympiacos to compete in the same competition with the level of control he had.
Olympiacos ultimately finished second in the Greek Super League, earning a spot in the Champions League third qualifying round, while Forest will be without European football next season.
