Europe’s football governing body UEFA on Friday handed a two-match ban to Turkish player Merih Demiral for making a controversial political gesture.
Demiral made the shape of a wolf’s head with his fingers after his second goal in a 2-1 victory over Austria on Tuesday. The gesture is associated with the Turkish far right.
What else do we know about the incident?
UEFA said that it sanctioned Demiral “for failing to comply with the general principles of conduct, for violating the basic rules of decent conduct, for using sports events for manifestations of a non-sporting nature and for bringing the sport of football into disrepute.”
Demiral will miss Turkey’s game against the Netherlands on Saturday and a potential semi-final against England or Switzerland if Turkey wins.
Demiral said that he only wanted to express that he was proud to be Turkish and there was no other message behind it.
Demiral posted an image of the celebration on the platform X, formerly Twitter, and said, “How happy is the one who says ‘I am a Turk’.”
Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz said that the decision to ban Demiral was unacceptable.
“The beauty and excitement of football should not be overshadowed with political decisions,” Yilmaz said in a post on X.
Demiral controversy causes diplomatic row
Turkey summoned the German ambassador on Wednesday over politicians’ reactions to Demiral’s gesture.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry accused German authorities of “xenophobia.” It also cited a German intelligence report that stated that “not every person making the gray wolf sign can be described as a far-right extremist.”
German Agriculture Minister Cem Ozdemir, who himself has Turkish roots, said that “nothing about the wolf salute is hidden,” adding that it “stands for terror [and] fascism.”
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser warned that the “symbols of Turkish right-wing extremists have no place in our stadiums.”
Several ministers and the spokesman of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AKP party condemned Faeser’s reaction.
Erdogan is set to attend Turkey’s game against the Netherlands this weekend.
The group has been banned in Austria and France. It has not been banned in Germany.
The Gray Wolves were labeled a terrorist organization by the European Parliament in 2021.
sdi/kb (dpa, Reuters, AP, AFP)
