Gary Neville Sued for Libel Over Comments on Awoniyi !njury Incident
Gary Neville Sued for Libel Over Comments on Awoniyi Injury Incident
Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville is facing a £2.1 million libel lawsuit from Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis following his criticism of Marinakis’s response to Taiwo Awoniyi’s recent life-threatening injury.
Awoniyi, a Nigerian international, suffered a ruptured intestine during a match against Leicester City and was later placed in an induced coma. Marinakis entered the pitch after the match to confront manager Nuno Espírito Santo over the handling of the incident—a move Neville described as “scandalous” on Sky Sports, later urging Nuno to “negotiate his exit.”
Marinakis claims Neville’s remarks are part of a broader smear campaign led by rivals and political figures, and his legal filing accuses the pundit of contributing to “hostile and ill-founded criticism.”
While Awoniyi recovers and was seen at Forest’s final match of the season, debate continues over how the club managed his injury and the owner’s public actions. Forest has defended Marinakis’s conduct as driven by genuine concern for the player.
