BERLIN (AP) — UEFA suspended Turkey player Merih Demiral for two matches on July 5 for making a controversial hand gesture at the European Championship, an incident that has led to a diplomatic row between Turkey and host nation Germany.
The ban ruled Demiral out of his team’s quarterfinal against the Netherlands on July 6, and the semifinal, should Turkey progress.
The Turkish Football Federation joined Turkish government officials in denouncing the suspension but said it can’t appeal against it because it’s under the three-game threshold. The leader of Turkey’s nationalist party called on the team to boycott Saturday’s game and return home unless UEFA’s “shameful decision” is reversed.
After scoring his second goal in Turkey’s round-of-16 win over Austria, Demiral made a sign with each hand that is used by Turkish nationalists and associated with the Turkish ultra-nationalist organization Ulku Ocaklari, which is more widely known as the Gray Wolves.
Demiral said it was an innocent expression of national pride and that he was hoping he’d have “more opportunities to do the same gesture again.”
But it was condemned as “racism” by German interior minister Nancy Faeser, and Cem Özdemir, a German politician of Turkish descent, said the gesture “stands for terror, fascism.”
