The changes of Nottingham Forest and Olympiacos must make whether both clubs qualify for the Champions League

Nottingham Forest will continue their push for a milestone among the first five in the Premier League-and the qualification in the Champions League that would accompany him-when they will face Everton at the City Ground Saturday.

The team of Nuno Espirito Santo hopes to guarantee a first return to European football in 30 years, when they competed in the UEFA Cup under Frank Clark.

Although the qualification has not yet been confirmed, the club has started to plan the possibility that Evangelos Marinakis, the owner of Forest, finds himself as the polena of two clubs playing football in the Champions League.

If Forest and Olympiacos, his Greek club, both qualify, would require significant changes …

Marinakis does Foresta and Olympiacos have?

Marinakis is the majority shareholder and president of Olympiacos, a position he has held since 2010.

He purchased Nottingham Forest, together with Sokratis Kominakis as a minority shareholder in May 2017.

They are not the only football clubs to which the Marinakis have an interest. In November 2023, he became the majority shareholder of the Portuguese club Rio Avenue. There are also ongoing plans to extend the Multi-Club Marinakis model through investments in Brazilian football. The Shipping and Media Greek tycoon confirmed that the negotiations were kept due to a potential investment in Vasco da Gama.

But it is its property of Olympiacos and forest that are relevant right now.

Marinakis a The City Ground last year (Michael Regan/Getty Images)

What is the current game status in the championship for Forest and Olympiacos?

The forest sits third in The Premier League table With seven games left to play. It has been confirmed that the fifth place will be enough to ensure the Champions League football in the Premier League this season and Forest currently has a five -point advantage compared to sixth place in Manchester City.

Olympiacos could conquer the Greek title of the Super League if they beat Aek at home this weekend, but since the Greek League is not one of the most voting championships in Europe, the winners do not automatically enter the Champions League.

Instead, they can qualify through one of the slots determined by the coefficients: they are well positioned for this, but they currently need Bodo/Glimt in order not to win the Europa League and Borussia Dortmund and the Aston Villa not to win the Champions League. These factors can change.

If they did not qualify through a coefficient slot, they would go to the Champions League qualification rounds.

Why could this be a problem?

The UEFA rules provide that “no individual or legal entity can have” decisive control or influence “on more than a club” in competition in the same European competition.

If clubs cannot join these rules, only one of them will be authorized to compete in that competition of the UEFA club.

Did it happen before?

Yes, some clubs faced a similar situation last summer.

City Football Group (CFG) – The Madre Club of Manchester City – has a 47 % participation in the La Liga Girona team, which qualified for the Champions League for the first time in the history of the club last season.

The CFG and UEFA have held talks on how Girona and City could be authorized to play both in the Champions League in 2024-25 to prevent a club from being relegated.

The Nice of Ligue 1 is owned by the Sir Jim Ratcliffe Ineos company, which has completed its purchase of a minority participation in Manchester United in December 2023

In July 2024, UEFA issued a declaration that indicates that all the teams would have been authorized to compete, which said that “following the implementation of significant changes by interested investors” both in Nice and Girona, nobody has “control or decisive influence” on both teams.

Chelsea has planned this season In the event that Strasbourg, who shared the owners with Chelsea, had an impact on the European ambitions of the London Club.

Forest in the final of the European Cup in 1979 (Duncan Raban/Allsport/Getty Images)

So is there a solution that means that both teams can compete?

Yes, but requires that an owner of a football club or an investor effectively moves away from one of the two clubs.

This means significant changes to the model owned by at least one of the clubs to substantially limit the influence of investors and the decision-making power over more than a club, ensuring compliance with the multi-club property rule.

To use the examples mentioned above last season, the investors transferred their actions to Girona and nice to the independent trustees through a blind trusted structure established under the supervision of the financial control body of the UEFA club (CFCB).

The CFCB has the role of supervision of the application of the License and Financial Sustainability of the UEFA club and in the end will in the end will decide the admissibility to the club for the competitions of the UEFA club.

These blind trusts were accepted by the first CFCB chamber on an exceptional basis for UEFA 2024-25 competitions. The trustees will regularly exchange information with the first CFCB chamber during the season.

The club itself would not be managed by a blind trust, although some members of the Club Council would be among the trustees.

What is the Marinakis plan?

Due to the historical ties of Marinakis with Olympiacos and with Greek football in a wider way, it is likely that UEFA advice that its actions in the forest that have been put in a trust.

Marinakis had a spell as President of the Superleague in Greece, as well as serving as Vice President of the Ellenic Football Federation, between 2010 and 2011.

During his presidency of Olympiacos, the team won the title of the Greek League for seven consecutive seasons from 2010-11 to 2016-2017, as well as between 2020 and 2022

If they go as expected, Marinakis would still be able to participate in forest games, but it would not be allowed to have a say in the club’s race during that season.

More responsibilities would fall on the shoulders of Lina Soloukou, which has been appointed CEO in December 2024. It is already a great influence behind the scenes on the city ground. His responsibilities extend to both Olympiacos and Rio Ave, but will mainly guide the daily race of the forest.

Lina Souuukou in Rome last year (Silvia Lore/Getty Images)

The Chief Football Officer Ross Wilson will remain an important figure, as well as the club’s recruitment team, including George Syrianos, the global technical director and the head of the recruitment Pedro Ferreira, all have played an important role in the recruitment that has contributed to pushing the forest for two seasons of combat relegation in a place where they are challenging for Europe.

There is a trust behind the scenes that the forest has the infrastructure to thrive in the event that the Marinakis can no longer be so practical.

The co -owner Kominakis and the former CEO Ioannis Vrentzos have recently resigned from the Forestry Council in preparation for the renovation works that will be requested for the two clubs to join the UEFA guidelines.

All adjustments must be made before next season.

Is there any other potential impact of the European qualification for the forest?

Forest has worked hard to make improvements to the city’s land to transform it into a quality stage in the Premier League in recent years, including a large work to modernize the changing rooms and media structures.

Forest would like the work to begin to redevelop the Peter Taylor stand during the next season, with the planning demand for the project that will probably return to Rushcliffe District Council next month in view of a planning meeting scheduled for May 8.

The situation would be complicated by the fact that there would be new regulations on the UEFA stadium to conform to the forest, such as the media structures, at a time when they would like to start working to demolish the current stand and build a new one. But, if they qualify for the Champions League in the coming weeks, they would consider it very much as a positive problem to have.

(Photo above: Marinakis with the UEFA Europa Conference League Trophy after Olympiacos won it in May 2024; by Michael Steele via Getty Images)