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Merih Demiral: UEFA bans Turkish defender for two matches after controversial goal celebration

Ronny Hartmann/AFP/Getty Images

Merih Demiral made the controversial celebration in the round of 16.



CNN

UEFA has banned Turkish player Merih Demiral for two matches after the defender made a controversial hand gesture during Turkey’s round of 16 victory over Austria at the 2024 European Championship.

Demiral scored two goals in Turkey’s 2-1 victory and celebrated his goal with the gesture known as the “wolf salute” and associated with the Turkish right-wing extremist group “Grey Wolves”.

UEFA announced the decision to suspend Demiral on Friday, a day before Turkey’s quarter-final against the Netherlands.

In its statement, UEFA said its appeals body had accused the defender of “failing to comply with the general principles of conduct, violating the basic rules of decent behaviour, abusing sporting events for demonstrations of a non-sporting nature and bringing the sport of football into disrepute”.

The Turkish Football Association confirmed to CNN that its legal team is working on an appeal against the ban.

Servet Yardimci, member of the UEFA Executive Board and presidential candidate of the Turkish Football Federation (TFF), described the ban as “unacceptable”.

“Calling for punishment for a natural celebration at the end of a match in a tournament that is running smoothly is an infringement on the independence of football,” he wrote in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“Our football player showed a natural joy as he celebrated the happiness of a moment with the Turkish fans… there is no element here that could hurt the opponent or a community. The player naturally expressed his feelings at the press conference he attended after the match.

“The way football players celebrate their victory should not be punished unless it is derogatory towards one or more groups or violates basic rules of politeness.”

Yardimci added: “I would like to stress my belief that this mistake must be corrected before it is too late.”

Turkish Minister of Youth and Sports Osman Aşkın Bak said on X: “We condemn UEFA’s unfair and biased decision, which in our opinion has no legal basis and is purely political in nature.

“We will continue to use legal means to assert our rights against this double standard towards our country and our national football player Merih Demiral.

“We believe in our footballers. They will give the necessary response on the pitch!”

Wolfgang Rattay/Reuters

Demiral was excluded from the quarter-finals.

After the victory against Austria, Demiral posted a picture of himself making the X gesture.

“Happy is he who calls himself a Turk,” the defender wrote under his post.

“I had a very specific celebration in mind. And that’s what I did. It has to do with Turkish identity because I am very proud to be Turkish. And that’s what I felt the most after the second goal, so I made that gesture,” Demiral told reporters after the game. “I’m very happy that I did that.”

Germany summoned the Turkish ambassador in Berlin on Thursday to oppose the celebrations after Turkey recalled the German ambassador in Ankara.

German representatives had discussed the incident with the Turkish ambassador in Berlin, the German Foreign Ministry added.

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser warned on Wednesday: “There is no place for the symbols of Turkish right-wing extremists in our stadiums.” She said: “Using the European Football Championship as a platform for racism is completely unacceptable.”

Faeser added that the “Gray Wolves” group is being monitored in Germany.

CNN’s German partner broadcaster NTV and Turkish broadcaster TRT reported that Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan will come to Berlin on Saturday for Turkey’s match against the Netherlands.