UEFA on Wednesday announced an investigation against Merih Demiral of Turkey due to an allegedly ultra-nationalist goal celebration in the 2-1 win against Austria at Euro 2024. The organizer of the tournament declared that it investigates one of its players for “inappropriate behavior” during Tuesday’s knockout game in Leipzig.
The gesture, which Demiral made to the crowd for his second goal of the game, has been linked to the Turkish ultra-nationalist group Grey Wolves.
Germany’s interior minister Nancy Faeser on Wednesday rebuked the celebration made by the Turkish player upon scoring.
“Symbols of Turkish right-wing extremists do not belong in our stadiums,” Faeser wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
“Using the European football championships as a platform for racism is absolutely unacceptable, she said.”.
Speaking afterwards in Leipzig, Demiral said there was no “hidden message” in his celebration. “The way I celebrated had something to do with my Turkish identity,” said Demiral, who was man of the match after scoring both Turkey’s goals. “We are all Turks, I am very proud to be Turkish and that is the meaning of this gesture.”
He claimed to have seen Turkish supporters making the salute in the stands.
“I just wanted to show to everybody how happy I am, how proud I am,” Demiral said, adding he hoped there would be “even more opportunities to show this gesture.”
The Grey Wolves is considered the armed wing of Turkey’s MHP and has been banned in France and Austria but not in Germany.
Extreme-right group that carried out violent attacks against leftist activists, ethnic and other minorities in the 1980s
The agriculture minister of Germany, Cem Ozdemir said “nothing about the wolf salute is hidden”
He added, while calling this symbol for “terror and fascism”, there is “nothing hidden”. On X, Ozdemir, said, one of the most powerful German politicians of Turkish origin.
ndsA German human rights organization, the Society for Threatened Peoples, urged UEFA to slam use of the wolf salute after a last-16 clash.”This gesture was a symbol of oppression and persecution”, NGO’s lead Middle East Kamal Sido said in a statement. On a separate note, Austrian forward Michael Gregoritsch called on fans to distance themselves from “right-wing ideology”.
Supporters of the Austrian team were singing racist lyrics, during the game, to the tune of popular dance track “L’Amour Toujours” by Italian DJ Gigi D’Agostino, correspondents reported.
The chant — which includes the line “foreigners out” — hit the headlines in Germany last week after a widely shared clip showed a group of young people singing it on a bar terrace.