European football's governing body said on Wednesday that it had launched an investigation over the nationalist Grey Wolves salute given by Turkish defender Merih Demiral during Tuesday's EURO 2024 clash between Austria and Türkiye.
Diplomatic sources reported that German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser requested sanctions from UEFA, resulting in the German Ambassador to Ankara being summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is as follows:
"It is unacceptable that a disciplinary investigation has been opened by UEFA against our national football player Merih Demiral following the football match between our National Football Team and the Austrian National Football Team, which took place yesterday (2nd July) as part of the 2024 European Football Championship (EURO 2024).
On the other hand, while a report published by the German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution in September 2023 emphasized that anyone making the wolf gesture cannot be considered right-wing extremist and that the 'wolf' symbol is not banned in Germany, reactions shown to Mr. Demiral by German authorities are evaluated as xenophobic in nature.
We condemn politically motivated reactions towards the use of a historical and cultural symbol during a celebration in a sports match, which did not target anyone."
