UEFA suspends Turkey's Merih Demiral for hand gesture

UEFA said it banned Demiral “for failing to comply with the general principles of conduct, 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.”

Turkey are the unofficial second home nation of this tournament thanks to the huge Turkish diaspora in Germany -- 2.9 million claim to have Turkish heritage -- mirroring Mexico's status in this summer's Copa América in the United States prior to their group-stage elimination.

Demiral was investigated after he made the gesture with both hands, which involves raising the index and little fingers, and pinching the middle and fourth fingers together with the thumb to form, roughly, the shape of a wolf's head.

Turkish soccer player Meih Demiral was suspended from two games by the Union of European Football Associations on Friday for showing the salute of the 'Grey Wolves,' the Turkish ultra-nationalist far-right group, which is supported by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of ...