As the difference in the penalties awarded to the two footballers drew attention, Turkish social media users reacted with the hashtag “#BeFairUEFA”.
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The one-match suspension given to English footballer Jude Bellingham for indecent behaviour and the two-match penalty given to Turkish footballer Merih Demiral for making the “gray wolf salute” have provoked reactions from Turkish fans.
People expressed their reactions on social media platforms using the hashtag “#BeFairUEFA” (“#BeFairUEFA”), particularly criticising the move.
England footballer Bellingham made a gesture to his genitals after scoring the equaliser in England’s 2-1 last-16 win over Slovakia.
UEFA’s Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Committee (CEDB) announced that Bellingham had been fined €30,000 and banned from UEFA competitions for “breaching fundamental decency rules”, and that the disciplinary action had been suspended for one year.
Meanwhile, Demiral expressed his joy with the “gray wolf salute” – now identified with the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and Ulukh Ocaklal – at the end of Turkey’s last-16 round match against Austria in a 2-1 victory, and the footballer’s move drew attention from politicians on both sides of Europe and criticism from anti-MHP Turks.
A decision on whether Turkey will be stripped of the centre-back for Saturday’s Euro 2024 quarter-final against the Netherlands will be made after the Turkish Football Federation’s (TFF) appeal to UEFA is decided.
Meanwhile, Albania player Mirlind Dak was suspended for two matches after shouting anti-Serbia slogans into a megaphone after the Euro 2024 match against Croatia.
President Erdogan’s response
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also criticised UEFA’s Demiral decision, citing the example of the Germany and France jerseys.
“Will anyone say, ‘Why are you wearing a rooster when there is a rooster on the France uniform?'” Erdogan said in a statement to reporters after returning from Kazakhstan on Friday.
Erdogan also noted that the German national team uniform features an eagle.
“So, Meri expressed his excitement with this image. “So, our foreign ministry has called the officials and is taking the necessary measures accordingly,” Erdogan said, adding that Turkey would play in Saturday’s quarter-final against the Netherlands “unless extraordinary circumstances arise.”
The banned ‘gray wolf salute’
Under a “symbolism law” that came into force in 2019 in Austria, where Turkey was eliminated in the round of 16, the movement known as the “gray wolf salute” was banned to “combat extremism and political Islam”.
In addition to the “gray wolf” symbol, the symbols law covers the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which are considered terrorist groups by the European Union and the United States. Symbols and signs belonging to groups such as the Croatian ultranationalist Ustasha are banned in the United States, Turkey and many other countries.
Meanwhile, France officially banned Ouluk Oçaklal from operating in the country by presidential decree in 2020.
