(FILES) Turkey’s defender #03 Merih Demiral makes a controversial hand gesture as he celebrates scoring his team’s second goal during the UEFA Euro 2024 round of 16 football match between Austria and Turkey at the Leipzig Stadium in Leipzig on July 2, 2024. – Turkey defender Merih Demiral will miss his team’s Euro 2024 quarter-final clash with the Netherlands after UEFA suspended him for two games on July 5, 2024 for making an alleged ultra-nationalist salute. Demiral scored a brace in the 2-1 last 16 win over Austria on July 2, 2024 and during celebrations for his second goal made a gesture associated with Turkish right-wing extremist group Grey Wolves. UEFA said in a statement Demiral was banned “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.” (Photo by Ronny HARTMANN / AFP)
Turkey’s sports minister on Friday condemned UEFA’s “unfair” two-match ban for Merih Demiral for making an ultra-nationalist gesture at Euro 2024 that rules him out of their quarter-final against the Netherlands.
“We condemn UEFA’s unfair and biased decision, which has no legal basis and that we consider to be purely political,” Osman Askin Bak wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
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