Has Marinakis always been in control of Nottingham Forest?

Nuno Espirito Santo's future as Nottingham Forest manager is uncertain after a breakdown in his relationship with owner Evangelos Marinakis.

In April, the Greek businessman stopped being a "person with significant control" at the club in order to comply with Uefa's multi-club ownership rules.

So what's going on?

Is Marinakis still in charge of Forest? And what are the rules on multi-club ownership?

On 29 April, Forest were two points off third place and very much in the race for the Champions League.

This is the date Marinakis stopped being a person of control at the club, according to Companies House, the government organisation which holds the UK's register of companies.

"Cessation of Evangelos Marinakis as a person of significant control" was the standard, curt statement on Companies House to signify the end of his position with NF Football Investments Limited, the vehicle that owns the City Ground club.

It was accompanied by a one-page document which had been authorised and filed electronically.

The reason? Marinakis also controls Greek team Olympiakos, who were also set to be in the Champions League.

Uefa rules state clubs under the same ownership cannot compete in the same European competition.

Therefore, Marinakis had to, on paper at least, not be listed as a person with significant control of Forest.

At the time, a club source told the BBC Marinakis remained the owner and was still committed to the Premier League side.

Should Forest fail to qualify for the Champions League, Marinakis could become a "person of control" again.

Indeed, he went on to the pitch to speak to Nuno after a 2-2 home draw on 11 May against Leicester proved costly to their ambitions of playing in Europe's elite club competition.

Forest eventually finished seventh and qualified for the Uefa Conference League, although they were eventually promoted to the Europa League (more on that shortly).

Olympiakos did get into the Champions League as they finished seven points clear at the top of the Greek Super League.

As there was no conflict in Uefa's eyes, Marinakis could again be listed as the owner of both clubs.

On 12 June, there was another update to Companies House, which read: "Notification of Evangelos Marinakis as a person of significant control on 6 June 2025."

The accompanying document said "the person holds, directly or indirectly, 75% or more of the shares in the company".

If Uefa's rules are designed to stop multi-club ownership, it appears to only do that on paper.

But football finance expert Kieran Maguire says Marinakis did nothing wrong and was entirely within the rules.

"Mr Marinakis transferred his shares into what is referred to as a blind trust. In theory, this means he had no involvement in executive decision-making for as long as the blind trust was deemed to exist," Maguire told BBC Sport.

"Looking at the outcome: Forest did not qualify for the Champions League, meaning there was no possibility of them playing Olympiakos in the same competition. As a result, the blind trust was dissolved, and Mr Marinakis regained control of both clubs.

"What many commentators were concerned about was that during the period of the blind trust - when, in theory, Mr Marinakis had no involvement in the running of the club - he was seen on the pitch and in conversation with manager Nuno Espirito Santo.

"This raised questions, but no rules were broken. From a legal point of view, the trust existed, and as far as Uefa is concerned, that was sufficient.

"It could be seen - or perhaps cynically observed - that just setting up a trust is a nominal activity. But it satisfies the legal position and Uefa is happy with the consequences."

Clubs have a 1 March deadline to show they comply with Uefa's multi-club ownership rules.

While Forest took the action in Companies House after this date, it ultimately did not matter as they did not end up in the same competition as Olympiakos.

However, another Premier League club did not have the same get-out.

Crystal Palace did not expect to be in Europe, having never been in one of the major Uefa competitions before.

So when their shock FA Cup final win over Manchester City put them in the Europa League, they fell foul of having missed that Uefa deadline regarding multi-ownership rules.

Palace co-owner John Textor also owned a major stake in French side Lyon, who had also qualified for the same Uefa competition through their league placing.

But as nothing had been done on Companies House in time, the Eagles were demoted to the Conference League, despite an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas).

And the team taking their place in the Europa League? Nottingham Forest.

What seems clear is the manager and owner's breakdown happened over the summer.

BBC Sport has been told one source of disconnect between the pair was the suggestion Nuno has not fully been involved in the club's recruitment.

The Forest boss said on Friday: "I always had a very good relationship with the owner - last season we were very close and spoke on a daily basis.

"This season it is not so well [between us], but I always believe that dialogue is important because my concern is the squad and the season we have ahead of us. Our relationship has changed and we are not as close.

"I think everybody at the club should be together, but this is not the reality."

This article is the latest from BBC Sport's Ask Me Anything team.

Ask Me Anything is a service dedicated to answering your questions.

We want to reward your time by telling you things you do not know and reminding you of things you do.

The team will find out everything you need to know and be able to call upon a network of contacts including our experts and pundits.

We will be answering your questions from the heart of the BBC Sport newsroom, and going behind the scenes at some of the world's biggest sporting events.

Our coverage will span the BBC Sport website, app, social media and YouTube accounts, plus BBC TV and radio.