Merih Demiral is suspended for two matches after making the controversial "wolf gesture" during the European Championship in Germany.
The centre-back will therefore miss Turkey's quarter-final against the Netherlands in Berlin – a meeting seen as a high-risk match by the police.
The suspension is being criticized by Turkish government politicians.
It was after Merih Demiral's second goal against Austria in Tuesday's 2–1 win in the round of 16 that he formed his fingers into a gesture linked to the Grey Wolves, a Turkish far-right movement with a bloody history.
Now, the European Football Association (Uefa) has announced that Demiral will be suspended for two matches, meaning he will miss Turkey's quarter-final against the Netherlands in Berlin on Saturday. If Turkey advances, he will also miss the semi-final against England or Switzerland next week.
Both Turkey's Vice-President Cevdet Yilmaz and Sports Minister Osman Askin Bak are directing criticism at the suspension.
Football's joy and beauty should not be overshadowed by political decisions, says Yilmaz.
"We condemn Uefa's unfair and biased decision, which has no legal basis but which we believe is purely political", writes Bak on X.
President Erdogan in the stands
The goal celebration has already led to high politics. Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will be sitting in the Olympic Stadium stands on Saturday.
Demiral said after the round of 16 that the gesture was only about his Turkish heritage, but Germany's Interior Minister Nancy Faeser reacted strongly. On X, she wrote that the European Championship should not be a platform for racism.
Turkey's Foreign Ministry responded with a statement that "the reactions shown by the German authorities towards Demiral are in themselves xenophobic".
The "wolf gesture" is also controversial in Turkey and is linked to a "certain type of radical Turkish nationalism", said Turkey expert Ekim Gaglar earlier in the week to TT.
The ultra-nationalist movement has a bloody history and a central organization is the far-right Grey Wolves, which was behind the murder of political opponents, primarily in the 1970s.
Those who feel excluded and have been affected by this form of nationalism and also remember the history when movements linked to this tradition killed dissenters think that this gesture is controversial, said Ekim Caglar.
A high-risk match
The movement encompasses several political parties, but the most established is MHP (Nationalist Action Party), which is a support party to Erdogan's ruling party AKP.
Around three million people of Turkish origin live in Germany and the national team has had strong support in the European Championship stands. The quarter-final match against the Netherlands in the German capital is seen as a high-risk match by the Berlin police.
