Demiral
scored
twice
as
Turkey
prevailed
over
Austria
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Turkey
defender
Merih
Demiral
has
been
handed
a
two-match
ban
for
making
an
ultra-nationalist
salute
during
his
country’s
Euro
2024
victory
against
Austria.
Demiral,
26,
scored
both
goals
in
Turkey’s
2-1
win,
securing
a
spot
in
the
quarter-finals
against
the
Netherlands.
However,
his
celebration
after
the
second
goal
involved
a
‘wolf
salute’,
a
gesture
associated
with
the
far-right
extremist
group
Grey
Wolves,
which
is
linked
to
Turkey’s
ruling
coalition
party,
the
National
Movement
Party.
The
salute,
banned
in
Austria
and
France,
was
pre-planned
by
Demiral
in
case
he
scored.
This
ban
means
the
Al-Ahli
defender
will
miss
Turkey’s
crucial
quarter-final
game
against
the
Netherlands
on
Saturday
evening.
If
Turkey
advances
to
the
semi-finals,
Demiral
will
also
be
unavailable.
Despite
this
setback,
Turkey
are
aiming
to
make
a
significant
impact
in
the
ongoing
competition.
They
are
determined
to
surpass
their
best-ever
performance
in
2008
when
they
reached
the
semi-finals.
They
began
the
competition
on
a
promising
note
beating
debutants
3-1
before
succumbing
to
a
3-0
defeat
to
2016
champions
Portugal.
They
later
sealed
their
place
in
the
round
of
16
after
capitalising
on
a
10-man
Czech
Republic
to
win
2-1
in
their
final
group
game.