Mehmet Büyükekşi's anger over the given punishment does not subside: There will be 11 Merih Demirals on the field.

The President of the Turkish Football Federation, Mehmet Büyükekşi, made statements before the match tomorrow between our National Football Team and the Netherlands in the quarter-finals of the 2024 European Football Championship. Büyükekşi, referring to the 2-match suspension given to our national football player Merih Demiral by UEFA, called on the fans to be reasonable and said that the necessary response would be given on the field. The President of the TFF said, "There will be 11 Merih Demirals on the field tomorrow. Everyone will play for Merih."

Mehmet Büyükekşi's statements are as follows;

"INVESTIGATION INITIATED AFTER THE STATEMENT OF A WESTERN STATE"

"The penalty given to Merih today is unfair, unlawful, unjust, and has brought a very big political incident to our agenda. The biggest example is the penalty given to another player. When we look at the penalty given to Merih, the delegate of the match did not write anything in his report. An investigation was initiated after the statement of a minister of a Western state. This is an indication of how biased it is. We condemn the decision."

"NO POLITICAL MEANING"

The gesture made has no political meaning. It is a movement that symbolizes the Turkishness of the Turkish nation for centuries. I personally went to the hotel and welcomed our players one by one. We discussed this issue with both our coach and the players."

"WE WILL GIVE THE ANSWER ON THE FIELD"

We condemn this decision. As the TFF, we have made the necessary initiatives. We prepared a 27-page defense. However, we saw that the defense was given to a newspaper 1 day before it was even received. It takes hours just to read the 27-page defense. We also find the leakage of this news negative. Hopefully, we will give the best answer on the field.

"THERE WILL BE 11 MERIH DEMIRALS ON THE FIELD"

The whole Turkish nation is standing up. We are trying to be reasonable. We invite our Turkish citizens living here to support only Turkey. Hopefully, our goal is to advance tomorrow. There will be 11 Merih Demirals on the field tomorrow. Everyone will play for Merih."

WHAT HAPPENED?

Our national football player Merih Demiral showed the wolf sign after scoring goals in the Austria match. Speaking after the match about his gesture, Demiral said, "There is no message, I just wanted to show how proud and happy I am." This gesture of Merih caused a great reaction, and German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser demanded sanctions from UEFA. UEFA initiated an investigation against our national football player for "inappropriate behavior". In a statement made by UEFA, it was stated, "An investigation has been initiated in accordance with Article 31(4) of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations regarding the alleged inappropriate behavior of Merih Demiral, a player of the Turkish Football Federation, in the 2024 UEFA European Championship Round of 16 match between Austria and Turkey, played in Leipzig, Germany on July 2, 2024. More detailed information will be provided in the coming days regarding the matter." UEFA concluded the investigation and gave our national football player Merih Demiral a 2-match ban.