Turkish defender Merih Demiral, who made a controversial celebration during the Euro 2024 round of 16 match against Austria, has been suspended for two games, UEFA announced on Friday, a decision Turkey said was “unfair”.
The player made a gesture linked to the “Grey Wolves”, a Turkish far-right group, after scoring one of his two goals against the Austrians.
Demiral was suspended “for failing to respect general principles of conduct, for violating fundamental rules of good conduct, for having used a sporting event for a non-sporting demonstration and for having brought football into disrepute”, UEFA said.
He will therefore miss Saturday’s Euro 2016 quarter-final against the Netherlands in Berlin, a match that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will attend.
“We condemn UEFA’s unfair and biased decision, which is not supported by any legal basis and which we consider to be purely political,” Turkish Sports Minister Osman Askin Bak responded on social media.
“We will continue to assert our rights through legal means against this double standard applied to our country and our player,” he added.
We condemn UEFA’s unfair and biased decision, which we believe has no legal basis and is entirely political.
We will continue to seek our rights through legal channels against this double standard applied to our country and our national football player Merih Demiral.
We believe in our football players.…
— Dr. Osman Askin Bak (@OA_BAK) July 5, 2024
Demiral’s gesture caused diplomatic tensions between Türkiye and Germany.
Turkey summoned the German ambassador to Ankara on Wednesday to protest against remarks by German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, who described the gesture as “unacceptable”.
Germany responded the next day by summoning the Turkish ambassador to Berlin.
President Erdogan said Demiral had merely “expressed his enthusiasm” and several Turkish ministers denounced the UEFA investigation and the German minister’s reaction.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry criticized “the politically motivated” and “xenophobic reactions of the German authorities towards Demiral.”
Source: Gazetaesportiva
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