By Chiara Holzhaeuser and Andrew Cawthorne
BERLIN (Reuters) -European soccer’s governing body UEFA opened an investigation on Wednesday into a “wolf salute” goal celebration by Turkey centre-back Merih Demiral that Germany condemned as racist due to its far right associations.
The 26-year-old defender raised both hands and made the gesture with his fingers after his second goal in Turkey’s stunning 2-1 win over Austria in the last-16 of Euro 2024.
The gesture – mimicking the shape of a wolf’s head – is linked to the right-wing “Grey Wolves”, an ultra-nationalist youth branch of Turkey’s Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which is in alliance with 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. “Using the European Football Championship as a platform for racism is completely unacceptable.”
Faeser said the group was under surveillance by Germany’s domestic intelligence service. The “Grey Wolves” were involved in political violence that killed some 5,000 people around a 1980 coup in Turkey.
UEFA said it had opened an investigation into “the alleged inappropriate behaviour” of Demiral.
It has been cracking down on misconduct during the tournament, banning Albania’s Mirlind Daku for two games after he led fans in offensive chants, and also investigating England’s Jude Bellingham for a crotch-grabbing gesture.
‘PROUD TO BE TURKISH’
Elated by his goals and the result, man-of-the-match Demiral told reporters after the win over Austria that he had planned the gesture and was proud of it.
“I had a certain specific celebration in my mind. That’s what I did. It has to do with Turkish identity because I’m very proud to be a Turk,” he said in UEFA’s translation of his comments in Turkish.
“I’m very happy that I did and all of our fans are proud of us. And I saw people in the stadium who were doing that sign, so that reminded me that I also had that in mind. So I’m happy I did that.”
The German Israeli Society, which described the Grey Wolves as a threat to Jews as well as Armenians, Greeks and Kurds, called on German authorities to ban the group.
“The ideological superiority of these fascist nationalists jeopardises public safety,” its president Volker Beck said in a statement.
There was no immediate reaction from Turkey’s government or its football association.
(Reporting by Chiara Holzhaeuser, Rachel More and Andrew Cawthorne;Writing by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Ludwig Burger and Ken Ferris)
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