Germany’s police union (GdP) on Saturday urged Turkey followers to keep away from displaying the controversial grey wolf gesture throughout an upcoming Euro 2024 match towards the Netherlands.
It comes after Turkish participant Merih Demiral was banned from two video games for displaying the grey wolf signal, which is related to Turkey’s far-right, whereas celebrating his group’s Tuesday victory over Austria.
What did German police say concerning the grey wolf signal?
“Politics has no place on the soccer discipline,” GdP chief Jochen Kopelke stated whereas talking within the northwestern German city-state of Bremen.
He warned towards using extremist symbolism.
Kopelke stated it was vital to look at what situations would enable for a full ban of the grey wolf signal.
“This can be a high-risk sport,” he stated, including that officers might be introduced with “distinctive regulation enforcement challenges.”
“We’re dedicated to a good and peaceable match,” Kopelke confused.
Earlier than the beginning of the match, Turkish soccer ultras known as for followers to make use of the gesture.
The match between Turkey and the Netherlands is at 9 p.m. native time (1900 UTC/GMT) on Saturday.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is ready to attend the match.
What’s the controversy round Demiral’s ‘wolf’ gesture?
On Friday, European soccer’s governing physique UEFA barred Merih Demiral from the Turkey-Netherlands match in addition to a possible semi-final towards England or Switzerland if Turkey wins.
UEFA stated Demiral had failed “to adjust to the overall rules of conduct” and had introduced soccer “into disrepute.”
Demiral stated that he solely needed to specific that he was proud to be Turkish and that there was no hidden message behind the gesture. A number of German politicians condemned his actions in statements that sparked a diplomatic row with Ankara.
The “wolf” signal is related to Turkey’s Grey Wolves extremist group, which has engaged in assaults on leftists, in addition to on Kurds, Armenians, Greeks and different ethnic minority teams.
The group has been banned in Austria and France and was labeled a terrorist group by the European Parliament in 2021. Germany has not banned the group.
si/rc (SID, epd, dpa)