Owner Evangelos Marinakis will not have a controlling interest in Nottingham Forest next season ahead of the club’s probable return to European football.
Marinakis, who also owns Greek club Olympiacos, has placed his shares in a blind trust in order to comply with UEFA regulations on multi-club ownership, which state no individual is allowed to control two clubs that are competing in the same competition.
With his Greek side already qualified for next season’s Champions League, there would be a conflict of interest if Forest were able to follow them into Europe’s premier club competition.
Forest can move back up to third in the Premier League with four games remaining if they beat Brentford in Thursday’s game in hand at the City Ground.
The move is only a temporary measure and is a commonly-used practice, with Manchester United’s co-owners Ineos suspending their interest in Nice for this season.
With Marinakis taking a step back, Sokratis Kominakis, the Forest co-owner, is returning to the club’s board.
If Forest can get over the line and qualify for the Champions League it would be one of the biggest success stories in the Premier League era.
Following back-to-back relegation fights after ending their 23-year exile from the top flight, Nuno Espirito Santo has the club challenging among the division’s elite this year.
With games against Brentford, Crystal Palace, Leicester, West Ham and Chelsea left, Forest are on the verge of returning to Europe for the first time since 1995-96, while Champions League qualification would see them back in the top level of European competition, which they last competed in during the 1980-81 season.
