FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Europa Conference League - Semi Final - First Leg - Aston Villa v Olympiacos - Villa Park, Birmingham, Britain - May 2, 2024 Olympiacos owner Evangelos Marinakis celebrates after the match Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs/File Photo
ATHENS (Reuters) - A Greek judge summoned the chairman of Olympiakos football club, Evangelos Marinakis, and four board members on Tuesday to respond to misdemeanour charges as part of an investigation into sports violence.
Marinakis, a shipping and media tycoon who also owns English Premier League club Nottingham Forest, and the board members deny wrongdoing. Greece’s judicial system has several preparatory stages and the compilation of charges does not mean an individual will face trial.
The defendants will officially respond to accusations of supporting a criminal organisation linked to Olympiakos fans and inciting sports violence in December, two lawyers said on Tuesday.
"They ... are absolutely innocent. The estimation that they have committed those acts is baseless and it will be proven in due course either by the (judicial) council or by the court," Marinakis' lawyer Vassilis Dimakopoulos told Reuters.
Olympiakos Vice President and Piraeus Mayor Giannis Moralis, who has also been summoned, denied wrongdoing in a Nov. 19 post on Facebook in which he described the "discriminating treatment" of the sports club.
Court authorities are not allowed to comment on the case under Greek law.
Sport in Greece has been marred by violent incidents on and off the pitch in recent years and authorities have repeatedly promised to eliminate hooliganism.
Authorities launched the probe after a riot police officer was killed by a flare in clashes with a group of Olympiakos fans outside a volleyball game in December, 2023.
Police have arrested dozens of people since April - mainly fans of the Olympiakos sports club - on charges of being members of an alleged criminal organisation with links to sports violence.
Lawyers representing them say they have denied the accusations, as has Olympiakos football club.
"The president of PAE Olympiakos and the family of Olympiakos have a clear conscience, they will not be blackmailed," the club said in a statement last week.
(Reporting by Renee Maltezou; Editing by Edward McAllister and Ed Osmond)
