"In the FA charge, a quote attributed to referee Smith said: 'As I walked down the tunnel at the end of the match, Mr Evangelos Marinakis, the owner of Nottingham Forest was stood on my left hand side at the end of the tunnel.' It was witnessed by both the assistant referee and the fourth official, indicating that this incident was not a mere misunderstanding but a serious infraction subject to penalties."
"Marinakis, in his defence, said he coughed. He smokes 2 or 3 cigars a day and often needs to expectorate. On the day of the incident he was suffering from a hacking cough and was taking lozenges, which he claimed contributed to the confusion surrounding the situation that led to his ban from the stadium."
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