Crystal Palace charged by FA over fans’ banner of Forest owner Marinakis

The Football Association has charged Crystal Palace with misconduct after their fans held up a graphic banner about the Nottingham Forest owner, Evangelos Marinakis, during the 1-1 draw at Selhurst Park between the teams in August.

There was been tension between the clubs all summer after both clubs indirectly went head-to-head for a place in this season’s Europa League, before it was decided Forest would enter Uefa’s second-tier competition at the expense of Palace. A white-hot atmosphere surrounded the fixture and Palace supporters in the Holmesdale End held aloft a banner of Marinakis.

Palace clinched a place in the Europa League with a shock FA Cup triumph against Manchester City in May, but subsequently were excluded from the competition due to the previous co-owner John Textor holding a controlling interest in Lyon, who also qualified. Uefa’s decision to rule that Textor held a controlling interest in both clubs, meaning they could not both play in the Europa League, occurred only after a drawn-out saga, and Marinakis had reportedly written to the governing body to raise concerns about Palace’s ownership.

At the time of the match Forest were in line to benefit from Palace’s possible exclusion as they had finished seventh in the Premier League in May and qualified for the Conference League, from which they were subsequently upgraded.

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