Giving Turkish defender Merih Demiral 2-match ban shows UEFA's double standards

By Fatih Erel

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkish footballer Merih Demiral was suspended for two matches after making the grey wolf sign, highlighting what some perceive as UEFA's double standards.

UEFA suspended Demiral on Friday for two matches due to his grey wolf sign during a goal celebration in the EURO 2024 round of 16 match against Austria.

- Bellingham cleared to play against Switzerland

UEFA has imposed a suspended one-match ban on English midfielder Jude Bellingham for a goal celebration gesture in the last-16 win over Slovakia at EURO 2024.

He was fined €30,000 ($32,470), but the 21-year-old player's one-match suspension was suspended for a year.

So, he is cleared to play against Switzerland in the EURO 2024 quarter-final on Saturday despite receiving a suspended one-match ban.

The UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) also fined the English Football Association €10,000 ($10,820) for crowd disturbances and €1,000 ($1,082) for lighting fireworks.

The investigation in question was for "a potential violation of the basic rules of decent conduct" after the Real Madrid midfielder made a crotch-grabbing gesture towards the Slovakian bench after scoring an overhead kick in the 95th minute to keep England in the game.

- Only fine for Serbian three-finger salute

UEFA has either not penalized some Serbian footballers or only fined them for using the Serbian three-finger salute, a type of greeting previously used by Serbian nationalists.

During the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, Aleksander Kolarov was not penalized for giving the Serbian three-finger salute after scoring a free-kick against Costa Rica.

Similarly, during the European Championship qualifiers, UEFA did not sanction Dusko Tosic for giving the Serbian three-finger salute after Aleksander Kolarov scored a goal in Serbia's 2-0 victory over Albania.

During the European Championship qualifying group match where Serbia defeated Montenegro 3-1 in 2023, Dusan Tadic made the three-finger salute and did not receive any suspension from UEFA.

A three-finger salute representing Serbian victories during the Bosnian War as a symbol of Serbian nationalist groups who mutilated Bosnian Muslim families by cutting off their index and middle fingers.

- Tarasov fined for revealing Putin's picture

Russian footballer Dmitry Tarasov from Lokomotiv Moscow received a fine for wearing a t-shirt revealing a picture of Russian President Vladimir Putin during the first leg of the UEFA Europa League round of 32 match against Fenerbahce in 2016.

Following Fenerbahce's 2-0 victory over Lokomotiv Moscow, Tarasov removed his jersey to reveal a t-shirt displaying Putin's image with the inscription "The most polite president" in Russian.

He was fined €5,000 for this action.

According to the UEFA statement, players are penalized for visibly displaying items containing political, religious, or advertising messages during matches, as per regulations.

- Fine for Albanian-origin players for double-headed eagle gesture

FIFA imposed disciplinary measures against Switzerland's Albanian-origin players Xherdan Shaqiri and Granit Xhaka, along with Stephan Lichtsteiner in their 2018 World Cup game against Serbia.

They initiated disciplinary proceedings against Slavisa Kokeza, the president of the Football Association of Serbia (FSS) at the time and their coach Mladen Krstajic.

Shaqiri and Xhaka were fined 10,000 francs each for making the double-headed eagle gesture in the goal celebration.

Lichtsteiner was also fined 5,000 francs.

Kokeza and Krstajic were fined 5,000 francs each for their post-match statements, and the FSS was fined 54,000 francs due to inappropriate fan behavior.

Before FIFA's decisions, it was stated that Xhaka and Shaqiri's goal celebrations were considered to have political connotations prompting the disciplinary investigation.

Despite Kosovo declaring unilateral independence from Serbia in Feb. 2008, recognized as an independent state by 116 countries, Serbia continues to view Kosovo as its own territory.

- Pep Guardiola wore yellow ribbon on touchline

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola wore a yellow ribbon on the touchline to support imprisoned activists and politicians campaigning for Catalan independence in both the English Premier League and UEFA Champions League matches.

Guardiola did not receive any punishment from UEFA for this behavior.

He has been fined €5,000 by FA.

*Writing by Muhammed Enes Calli