Former owner of Premier League club stabbed during fight to fend off masked robbers at £10m London mansion

According to The Sun, the attack took place earlier this month. Al-Hasawi is said to have been sleeping when robbers broke into his bedroom. During a confrontation, the 57-year-old sustained stab wounds to his hand left hand and other injuries to his neck. Images circulating on social media have pictured Al-Hasawi in hospital with bandages over his injuries.

It is currently unknown if the robbers managed to steal anything from Al-Hasawi's property in the Mayfair district of London before fleeing immediately after this confrontation.

Al-Hasawi's lawyers are said to have asked the Metropolitan Police to publicly reveal more about the attack as other Middle Eastern businessmen are 'fearing' similar attacks. The Metropolitan Police insist that inquiries are ongoing, but have assured that Al-Hasawi did not sustain any 'life-threatening or life-changing' injuries during this home invasion.

Al-Hasawi's five years at the helm of Forest were particularly volatile, with the club going from Championship promotion hopefuls to flirting with relegation. He employed nine different managers during his half-decade stint at the City Ground.

In 2017, having faced many protests in his final years at the club, Al-Hasawi sold Forest to Greek businessman Evangelos Marinakis, who helped the club return to the Premier League in 2022.

Though Forest have achieved the Premier League dream under Marinakis' ownership, he has come in for criticism over the handling of this season. Forest qualified for the Europa League having finished seventh last season and came into this campaign full of hope. However, they have already cycled their way through three managers - Nuno Espirito Santo, Ange Postecoglou and Sean Dyche - before the appointment of Vitor Pereira as their fourth of 2025-26.

Nevertheless, Marinakis, known for meeting players in the tunnel and even coming onto the City Ground pitch, remains a hugely popular figure among Forest fans, with former player Rob Earnshaw telling GOAL that football needs larger-than-life personalities like his.

"When Mr Marinakis comes on the pitch and he's greeting players in the tunnel, for me there is absolutely nothing wrong with that," Earnshaw said, speaking in association with NordicBet, where fans can follow the latest Europa League odds.

"Also, in Greece, when you are the owner, you are entitled to go in the dressing room, to go on the pitch, it's part of the game as you come and be part of it - you speak with the players and you are the man in the middle. As the owner, you get a better feeling of what's going on inside the football club.

"I have no problem with it and think Mr Marinakis has done a fantastic job. He is of course very ruthless and very determined, very direct in his ways, but he has taken this football club - in the last five/six years - into where it should be, in the Premier League, playing in Europe and having big European nights, playing in the Premier League and having the chance to go to the Champions League. Those moments are what every Forest fan wants to happen.

"I enjoy it. I enjoy him being involved. I think it's been unbelievable and he deserves a lot of credit because he hasn't just invested in the football club, he has fully invested himself in order to take the club to be successful. It has been a hell of a journey, a hell of a few years, but it wouldn't be Forest if it was boring and we didn't have personalities.

"Football is about personalities, so I love that. They shouldn't just be sat there and you never hear from them in the box. They are part of the football club and their personality comes out. I'm all for that."