UK soccer club owner Marinakis' libel lawsuit against Greek rival can continue, British court rules

LONDON (Reuters) - Evangelos Marinakis, owner of English Premier League soccer club Nottingham Forest, can continue his libel lawsuit against a Greek rival over an alleged smear campaign, London's High Court ruled on Friday.

Greek shipping magnate Marinakis launched the case against Irini Karipidis, chair of Greek Super League club Aris Thessaloniki, last year.

He says Karipidis is behind a website alleging Marinakis was involved in match fixing, drug smuggling and shipping Russian oil in breach of sanctions, which Marinakis strongly denies.

Karipidis, however, says she has "a clear defence of truth" to the libel lawsuit and asked the court to overturn permission to serve the lawsuit on her outside of England.

Judge Richard Spearman dismissed that application, saying in a written ruling that Marinakis' case can proceed.

(Reporting by Sam Tobin; editing by William James)