Forest owner Marinakis steps back as European qualification looms

Marinakis, who also owns Greek club Olympiakos, has placed his shares in a blind trust in order to comply with UEFA regulations on multi-club ownership, which state no individual is allowed to control two clubs that are competing in the same competition.

The Greek side have already qualified for next season's Champions League, meaning there would be a conflict of interest if Forest were to follow them into Europe's top club competition.

Forest will climb to third in the Premier League with four games remaining if they beat Brentford in Thursday's game in hand at the City Ground.

Marinakis' move is only a temporary measure and is a commonly used practice, with Manchester United's co-owners, INEOS, suspending their interest in Nice for this season. Sokratis Kominakis, Forest's co-owner, is returning to the club's board.

Nuno Espirito Santo's team are chasing one of the top five places in the Premier League, which would guarantee Champions League qualification.

It is a dramatic improvement in fortunes for a club that faced back-to-back relegation fights after ending their 23-year exile from the Premier League in 2022. Forest have not played in Europe's elite competition since the 1980/81 season, when they were two-time defending champions under former manager Brian Clough.