Gary Neville has been banned from Nottingham Forest’s match against Chelsea on Sunday after the Manchester United legend’s altercation with owner Evangelos Marinakis
Gary Neville has been barred from Nottingham Forest after the club removed his credentials, forcing Sky Sports to pull its presenting crew from the City Ground.
Neville, a co-commentator, was scheduled to cover Sunday’s game but was notified that he would not be permitted to attend. The decision comes after Neville publicly chastised Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis for leaping onto the pitch and confronting manager Nuno Espirito Santo during a draw with Leicester earlier this month.
Neville described the incident as “absolutely scandalous” and took to social media to express his disdain, stating: “Scandalous from that Forest owner. Nuno should go and negotiate his exit tonight with him! The Forest fans, players and manager do not deserve that.”
This sparked a violent argument between Neville and Marinakis, which finally resulted in the former Manchester United star’s ban from the City Ground.
Sky Sports has slammed the measure, calling it a “unprecedented and unwelcome step” that violates the values of free speech. Despite paying millions for TV rights, Sky has chosen to stick by Neville, broadcasting the match between Forest and Chelsea from its West London offices rather than the City Ground, according to the Mirror.
Neville, undoubtedly the most well-known and respected television analyst, has chosen not to participate in the coverage, a choice completely supported by Sky.
Marinakis stated that his appearance on the pitch was motivated by concern for Forest striker Taiwo Awoniyi, who had sustained a serious injury and was placed in an induced coma, rather than a desire to confront Nuno.
Sky will still have a full commentary team at the match, but Neville will not be present, and the presentation will be done remotely, a departure from their customary live studio setup within stadiums.
Earlier this week, allegations surfaced that Neville was named in Marinakis’ £2.1 million defamation case against Irini Karipidis and Ari Harow.
Karipidis owns Greek club Aris, which competes with Olympiacos, which is also owned by Marinakis, and Harow previously worked as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s chief of staff.
