Turkey's defender Merih Demiral #03 attends a training session at the team's base camp in Barsinghausen on July 5, 2024, during their MD-1 training ahead of their UEFA Euro 2024 football match against Netherlands. (Photo by Ozan Kose / AFP)
Berlin: Turkiye's defender Merih Demiral will miss his team's Euro 2024 quarter-final clash with the Netherlands after UEFA suspended him for two games on Friday for making an alleged ultra-nationalist salute.
Demiral scored both of Turkiye's goals in the 2-1 last-16 win over Austria on Tuesday and during celebrations for his second goal made a controversial gesture.
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."
Demiral will also miss a potential semi-final against England or Switzerland should Turkiye overcome the Netherlands on Saturday.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will attend the quarter-final at the Olympiastadion in Berlin after Demiral's salute triggered a diplomatic row between Turkiye and Euro 2024 host nation Germany.
Turkiye summoned the German ambassador on Wednesday over politicians' reactions to Demiral's celebration.
Germany's Interior Minister Nancy Faeser warned the gesture has "no place in our stadiums"
The 26-year-old former Juventus defender, now at Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia, said there was no "hidden message" in his gesture.
