NOTTINGHAM FOREST owner Evangelos Marinakis has released a statement after he stormed onto the pitch and appeared to confront boss Nuno Espirito Santo.
The shocking incident occurred as Forest’s Champions League hopes suffered a blow with a 2-2 draw to already relegated Leicester.
A raging Marinakis charged onto the pitch at full-time and was seemingly heading past Nuno.
But he then stopped and made angry gestures at the manager as the pair exchange words.
Marinakis lost his temper over Taiwo Awoniyi being forced to play on while injured.
The striker was hurt after clattering into the post while attempting to slide in and score.
Medics checked on Awoniyi and he was initially given the thumbs up to play on before changing their minds.
In that time, Nuno had used his final substitute to take off Elliot Anderson.
Marinakis addressed the issue in a statement, which read: “Today is a day for celebration, because after 30 years Nottingham Forest is now guaranteed to be competing on the European stage once again – a promise I made to our supporters when we achieved promotion.
“With two more games to go in the Premier League, we must keep believing and keep dreaming, right to the final kick in the final game.
“We are extremely proud and close to Nuno and the team, and we must all celebrate the historic achievements of this season.
“Everybody – coaching staff, players, supporters and including myself – we were frustrated around the injury of Taiwo and the medical staff’s misjudgement on Taiwo’s ability to continue the game.
“This is natural, this is a demonstration of the passion we feel for our club. Let’s all be grateful, passionate and keep on dreaming.”
After the game, Nuno said: “It was a tough moment, after the situation with [Taiwo Awoniyi] we had one man less after a misunderstanding.
“It’s difficult to control emotions when we had so much expectation on a day like this.”
Asked if the Awoniyi situation sparked the Greek chief’s reaction, Nuno confirmed: “Yes, it was because of that. It was a misunderstanding, a miscommunication. I’m sorry, I cannot go much further.
“It’s based on emotions, you cannot make a big deal out of it. It happens and it will happen again. With the emotions today, it’s understandable.”
Nuno later said in his press conference: “It was a misunderstanding between the coaching and medical department and we were both frustrated.
“It is because of the owner’s passion that we are growing as a club. he pushes us. He wants us to do better.
“If it was the other way round maybe one ago he would say, ‘OK we have the job done that’s normal’.
“His desire and passion is to be a big club. Honestly, as a club we owe a lot to the Marinakis family.”
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