Turkey defender Merih Demiral handed Euro 2024 ban over ‘Grey Wolves’ gesture

Turkey meet the Netherlands in their quarter-final at Berlin’s Olympiastadion on Saturday

Turkey's Merih Demiral celebrates after scoring his side second goal (AP)

Turkey defender Merih Demiral has been banned for two games by Uefa following a gesture he made during his side’s last-16 win against Austria on Tuesday and will miss Saturday’s Euro 2024 quarter-final against Netherlands.

The 26-year-old centre back scored twice in a 2-1 win over the Austrians to send his side into the last eight for the first time since 2008, and celebrated by making a “wolf” gesture with his fingers.

The gesture is linked to the “Grey Wolves”, an ultra-nationalist youth branch of Turkey’s Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which is an ally of President Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AK Party.

“The symbols of Turkish right-wing extremists have no place in our stadiums,” Germany’s Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said in a post on X, and Uefa subsequently opened a disciplinary case against Demiral.

Uefa said in a statement: “The Appeals Body has decided to suspend Turkish Football Federation player Merih Demiral, for a total of two (2) UEFA representative team competition matches for which he would be otherwise eligible, 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.”

Turkey meet the Netherlands in their quarter-final at Berlin’s Olympiastadion on Saturday, a game the Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan is expected to attend.

Reuters