Last Friday's report that Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis received a five-match stadium ban for 'improper behaviour' near the tunnel after their loss to Fulham last month left many, including Football Daily, questioning what the Greek businessman could have done to warrant such a severe penalty. On the same day, Nuno Espírito Santo and Morgan Gibbs-White received shorter bans for verbal abuse directed at referee Josh Smith and his team. Marinakis' suspension, however, was for a similar yet distinctly more serious offense: spitting in the direction of the officials.
The match official recounted the incident in his report: 'As I walked down the tunnel at the end of the match, the owner of Nottingham Forest was standing on my left-hand side at the end of the tunnel. As I walked past him, he spat on the floor next to my left foot. This was also witnessed by assistant referee James Mainwaring and fourth official Tim Robinson.'
Marinakis' defense, which was deemed 'completely implausible,' argued that his cigar smoking causes coughing, which sometimes results in spitting. He claimed that on the day of the incident, he was suffering from a hacking cough and was taking lozenges. He stated that he coughed towards the floor, away from the officials' path, and did not see how this could be considered misconduct.
The independent regulatory commission reviewed the available footage and concluded that Marinakis was not being truthful. 'We are of the view that the footage does not support the suggestion [Big Vange] coughed,' the commission declared. 'Typically, if someone was about to cough, common decency demands that one covers one's mouth. We are sure [Big Vange] would have covered his mouth if he was about to cough as someone was approaching in the opposite direction. Alternatively, he could have turned away. In our view the footage does not suggest he turned away at all.'
The commission ultimately concluded that Marinakis 'deliberately spat in a disrespectful and disgusting display of contempt towards the match officials,' and imposed a five-match stadium ban as a deterrent.
Join Rob Smyth from 8pm BST for live coverage of RB Leipzig vs. Liverpool, and Will Unwin for updates on other European matches.
Leeds boss Daniel Farke praised summer signing and Japan midfielder Ao Tanaka, nicknaming him 'James Bond' after his performance in the 2-1 Championship victory over Watford.
Send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today's letter of the day winner is Stephen Gash, who wins a Football Weekly scarf. Terms and conditions for our competitions can be viewed here.
Source link: https://www.theguardian.com
