Crystal Palace charged for banner depicting Evangelos Marinakis pointing gun at Morgan Gibbs-White

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Crystal Palace have been charged with misconduct by the Football Association (FA) after fans held up a huge banner about Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis before their Premier League meeting in August.

Tensions had intensified between Palace and Forest throughout the summer after both went head-to-head for a place in this season's Europe League. UEFA eventually ruled that Forest would enter the second-tier competition at the expense of Palace, who were excluded due to previous co-owner John Textor's involvement in Lyon.

Although Marinakis didn't attend the fixture, which finished 1-1, supporters made their feelings clear. Indeed, fans in the Holmesdale End at Selhurst Park showed a banner that depicted Marinakis holding a gun to the head of Morgan Gibbs-White, who had looked set to leave for Tottenham before performing a U-Turn to agree a new contract.

A statement from the FA read: " Crystal Palace FC has been charged with misconduct in relation to its Premier League fixture against Nottingham Forest FC on Sunday 24 August.

"It's alleged that the club failed to ensure its spectators and/or supporters (and anyone purporting to be supporters or followers) didn't behave in an improper, offensive, abusive, insulting and/or provocative way during the fixture. Crystal Palace FC has until Tuesday 11 November to provide a response."

Palace had clinched a place in the Europa League by beating Manchester City to win the FA Cup in May. However, Oliver Glasner's side were subsequently excluded from the competition due to previous co-owner Textor holding a controlling interest in Ligue 1 side Lyon.

UEFA's decision to rule that Textor held a controlling interest in two clubs in the Europa League only occurred after a drawn-out saga, with Marinakis reportedly writing to the governing body to raise concerns about Palace's ownership.

Forest were first in line to benefit from Palace's exclusion after they finished seventh in the Premier League and qualified for the Conference League.

After Palace were demoted to the third-tier of European football, they appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but failed to overturn the decision and had to settle for a place in the Conference League. Forest, meanwhile, received a last-minute promotion to the Europa League.

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