Nottingham Forest have decried “fake news” and “baseless and ill-informed outrage” over the confrontation between the club’s owner, Evangelos Marinakis, and manager Nuno Espirito Santo at the end of Sunday’s match against Leicester City.
The Greek businessman remonstrated with Nuno after the sides’ 2-2 draw, with Forest saying in a statement released on Tuesday that the reason behind the incident was his anger that one of the club’s players had continued after an injury.
Striker Taiwo Awoniyi required “urgent” surgery on an abdominal injury on Monday night after colliding with the post in the 88th minute at the City Ground.
He initially continued to play after receiving treatment, with Forest having used all of their substitution windows, but visibly struggled.
“The truth of the matter is there was no confrontation, with Nuno or with others, either on the pitch or inside the stadium. There was only shared frustration between all of us that the medical team should never have allowed the player to continue,” Nottingham Forest’s statement read.
The club confirmed that Awoniyi was recovering well after the surgery, but said, “The seriousness of his injury is a powerful reminder of the physical risks in the game, and why a player’s health and well-being must always come first.
“At Nottingham Forest, this principle is not just policy for us; it is the deeply held belief and conviction of our owner.”
It added that Marinakis was “personally and emotionally invested” in the incident at the City Ground and that his “deep frustration” at seeing a player injured but continuing to play resulted in him going onto the pitch.
Several commentators objected to Marinakis’ actions, with Gary Neville calling his behaviour “scandalous” on Sky Sports, although Nuno downplayed the incident after the match, telling Match of the Day it was a “misunderstanding”.
Forest appeared to respond to those criticisms in their statement.
“In light of this, we urge former coaches and players, and other public figures in the game, to resist the urge to rush to judgement and fake news online, especially when they do not have the full facts and context,” the club continued.
“Baseless and ill-informed outrage for the purposes of personal social media traction serves no one — least of all the injured player.
“Let concern come before commentary,” the statement admonished.
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