UEFA investigates Turkey player Merih Demiral for celebrating a goal with a nationalist gesture

July 3, 2024

LEIPZIG, Germany (AP) — UEFA is investigating Turkey soccer participant Merih Demiral’s “alleged inappropriate habits” after he celebrated a aim at Euro 2024 by displaying a hand signal related to an ultra-nationalist group.

Demiral scored each objectives Tuesday in a 2-1 win over Austria to earn a spot within the quarterfinals.

After scoring the second aim he made an indication with every hand that’s utilized by Turkish nationalists and related to the Turkish ultra-nationalist group Ulku Ocaklari, which is extra extensively generally known as the Grey Wolves.

After the sport, Demiral mentioned it was an harmless expression of his nationwide delight and that there was “no hidden message or something of the kind.”

He mentioned he had the celebration in thoughts earlier than scoring.

“It has to do with this Turkish identification, as a result of I’m very proud to be a Turk. And I felt that to the fullest after the second aim. In order that’s how I ended up doing that gesture. I’m very glad that I did that,” Demiral mentioned. “I noticed folks within the stadium who had been doing that signal. In order that jogged my memory that I additionally had that in thoughts.”

Later, he was requested once more concerning the gesture.

“How can I clarify this?” he replied. “In fact we’re all Turkish. We’re all Turks in Turkey. We’re very proud. I’m very proud as an individual to be a Turk. In order that’s what I did. That was the which means of the gesture. It’s fairly regular.”

Demiral mentioned he hoped he’d get “extra alternatives to do the identical gesture once more.”

UEFA confirmed Wednesday that it had appointed an inspector to research Demiral. It didn’t define when the case may conclude. Turkey’s subsequent sport is towards the Netherlands in Berlin on Saturday.

German inside minister Nancy Faeser known as on UEFA to punish the participant for making the gesture.

“The symbols of Turkish right-wing extremists haven’t any place in our stadiums. Utilizing the soccer European Championship as a platform for racism is totally unacceptable,” Faeser said on X.

The spokesman for Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s social gathering, Omer Celik, responded by saying Faeser’s feedback and UEFA’s investigation are “unacceptable.”

“It will be extra acceptable for these searching for racism and fascism to give attention to the latest election ends in totally different European international locations,” Celik wrote on X.

Demiral was beforehand considered one of 16 Turkey gamers reprimanded in 2019 for making military-style salutes at video games at a time when the nation was conducting a navy offensive in Syria.

The Grey Wolves group was based because the youth wing of Turkey’s far-right Nationalist Motion Occasion, or MHP, which is presently in an alliance with Erdogan’s ruling social gathering, the Justice and Growth Occasion.

Within the a long time following its founding within the Nineteen Sixties, the group was accused of involvement in politically motivated violence, principally towards leftist teams.

MHP chief Devlet Bahceli on Wednesday condemned UEFA’s investigation into Demiral’s gesture as “biased and fallacious.”

“The Grey Wolf signal made by our son, Merih, after netting the ball is the Turkish nation’s message to the world,” Bahceli wrote on X. The nationalist chief urged calm, saying the Turkish crew’s “wrestle on the sector shouldn’t go to waste.”

Germany’s federal home company screens the Grey Wolves group’s actions. Authorities estimate it has round 12,100 members within the nation.

The group has been banned in France, whereas Austria has banned the usage of the Grey Wolf salute.