Nottingham Forest CEO Lina Souloukou has defended their partnership with Olympiacos under owner Evangelos Marinakis.
Gianluca di Marzio cover comments from the Nottingham Forest chief today made at the Social Football Summit in Turin.
Souloukou is the current CEO at Nottingham Forest after arriving at the club in January of this year. Her impending arrival was announced in December last year.
She has worked in high-profile executive and legal roles for several football organisations and sports bodies before that. It includes roles as the CEO and General Manager at Roma. Souloukou also spent six years as the Director of Legal Department and International Affairs and then General Manager at Olympiacos.
It means she’s worked for clubs owned by Evangelos Marinakis for a total of six years over two separate spells.
And also means she’s well versed in the multi-club model that he has employed with the sides he owns, chief among them Olympiacos and Nottingham Forest. He also owns Rio Ave in Portugal.
Nottingham Forest benefit from commercial offering
It’s a model that appears to be working and Souloukou certainly thinks so, if her latest comments are any indication.
“This is one of the most challenging issues in our industry. It’s difficult to have a clear position because there are so many interests, so we need to find a balance,” she said.
“In our group, one of the first challenges I faced was precisely this. After the Marinakis’ acquisition of Nottingham Forest, Olympiakos returned to winning ways, and we were promoted to the Premier League, then we qualified for the Europa League. So this model works.
“At the group level, there are many synergies in the sporting side. From scouting to recruitment: some smaller clubs can gain access to players they wouldn’t have if they weren’t part of this model.
“On the commercial side, there are synergies created by expanding the pitches, sponsorship deals, and a fan base that can be more attractive globally. This certainly creates many operational efficiencies, having the same needs at the group level.”
That financial boost from selling commercial packages with group benefits is certainly something that stands out.
