Nottingham Forest may be about to benefit from UEFA rulings by receiving a ‘promotion’ into the Europa League, but these rulings could also hurt Evangelos Marinakis one day.
With Forest qualifying for the UEFA Conference League, Marinakis would’ve been somewhat pleased at the outcome as it meant that his status as owner of both Forest and Olympiacos could remain unchanged.
UEFA rules dictate that no one owner can control two teams in the same competition, which led to Marinakis relinquishing control of Forest in April when it looked possible that the Reds could join Olympiacos in the Champions League.
The rule breach was avoided at the City Ground, but the same can’t be said for Crystal Palace, who may lose their place in the Europa League due to John Textor’s involvement with Lyon.
Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images
Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images
Given that Forest would be in line to replace Palace in the Europa League, Nottingham Forest News spoke to TBR Football’s Head of Football Finance, Adam Williams, to discuss just how beneficial this could be for the club.
Nottingham Forest would receive ‘significant’ financial boost in the Europa League
The Conference League would provide Nuno Espírito Santo’s side with a competition they’d be amongst the favourites for, but the financial advantage of a Europa League opportunity makes the Crystal Palace situation one to follow closely.
Williams explained: “For Palace fans, this situation is very bleak. For their sake, I really hope they can figure it out. As far as Forest are concerned, there is a chance they could get ‘promoted’ to the Europa League, which is actually a pretty significant leap in revenue.
“For context, Man United and Spurs got almost as much money after the league phase of the Europa League as Chelsea did for winning the Conference League. For Forest, they don’t have the same coefficient rating as those clubs, so their take-home would be less, but it’s still a significant difference.
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“Also, you have the chance to get Champions League qualification from the Europa League, which is the ultimate prize. People talk about the cliff edge between the Championship and the Premier League, but the revenue difference between the Europa League and Champions League is now almost as substantial on a per-year basis when you zoom out on the graph.”
For Williams, though, the ruling on the Crystal Palace situation will be one to watch for Marinakis more as a result of its wider ramifications for his multi-club model.
Why Evangelos Marinakis may eventually have to sell Nottingham Forest
After the Reds missed out on the Champions League, Marinakis was able to retake control of Forest as the UEFA ownership rule doesn’t apply across different competitions.
However, the same scenario will only come up again if Forest are trying to become regulars in Europe, something that Williams was keen to discuss.
He said: “I think the most significant point to take away from this is that the multi-club ecosystem as it exists simply isn’t viable. Next season, there will only be three Premier League clubs who aren’t in some form of multi-club network.
“Some of these networks are very obvious. Marinakis is the direct owner of both Forest and Olympiacos, for example, or Manchester City own 12 different clubs under the City Football Group banner.
“My instinct is that there is going to be more and more backlash when these situations occur with UEFA, as they are doing more frequently.
“The blind trust arrangement isn’t going to be satisfactory long term. I suspect that, if Forest continue to challenge for Europe, Marinakis may eventually be forced to pick between them and Olympiacos.”