Are there similar cases to the saluting Turkish footballers?
In the recent past, two incidents occurred in particular, similar to the salute gestures of Turkish pros from the previous days. In November 2012, the Croatian international Mario Mandzukic, at that time in the service of Bayern, in the game against the 1st FC Nuremberg military salute. At the time, this was interpreted as his comment that Croatian generals Ante Golovina and Mladen Markac had been acquitted of the war crimes trial before the International UN Tribunal in The Hague.
In the previous year, Swiss international Xerdan Shaqiri and Granit Xhaka showed off the Albanian Eagles in a 2-1 victory over Serbia as a goal. Both have Kosovo-Albanian ancestors - between Serbia and Kosovo not only since the Yugoslav and Kosovo war a tense atmosphere prevails.
What determine the associations in political statements?
Crucial in such cases is the FIFA Disciplinary Code, which is also the orientation of continental and national associations. However, this does not explicitly refer to political opinions expressed in the field. The corresponding section is rather general and leaves a good deal of room for interpretation. In the edition of 2019, there is the chapter "offense during a game or competition", in a sub-item reads: "Players and officials are to lock as follows and can be fined: for at least two games because of any Provozierens Spectators at a game. "
What happened in similar cases?
The actions of the associations against political demonstrations in the field are very uneven. So Mandzukic came away with a reminder from the DFB, after he himself had denied a political context: "I have nothing to do with politics." The club also waived sanctions.
Shaqiri and Xhaka were fined. The Fifa interpreted the gesture merely as an unsportsmanlike behavior, not as a provocation. Both had to pay 10,000 Swiss francs. The Swiss captain Stephan Lichtsteiner, who had repeated the gesture in the same game out of solidarity with his teammates, got away with 5,000 Swiss francs.
Are political statements in the field so basically prohibited?
No. If they are consistent with the official values of the associations, they are even welcome. So several times before games was read a call against racism in football. However, these calls are very general.
In which cases did the associations intervene?
In individual cases, which cause attention, sometimes excitement. The Liverpool professional Robbie Fowler pointed 1997 with a T-shirt, which he wore under the jersey and showed at the Torjubel, on the mass layoffs Liverpool workers. His club gave him a fine.
French footballer Nicolas Anelka showed the so-called "Quenelle" greeting in West Bromwich Albion in 2013: the outstretched right arm on which he lays his left hand - allegedly a gesture of solidarity with the controversial comedian Dieudonne M'Bala M'Bala, in France was accused of anti-Semitism. Anelka was suspended by FA FA for five games and then fired by his club.
In 2006, the captain of Lazio, Paolo di Canio, won a game suspension after repeatedly displaying the Roman salute from Italian Mussolini fascism. Di Canio committed to the right-wing extremism, in 2016 he was dismissed as a TV expert on Italian television because he had "Dux", so leader tattooed on the upper arm.
Also penalized by a very different political motive was Mancity coach Josep Guardiola, who at times wore a yellow bow on the lapel to support Catalan independence. The FA imposed a fine on him in 2017. In contrast, the Fifa lifted her first imposed prohibition against the so-called Remembrance Poppy in English footballers: To commemorate the British war dead in the World War, the national team in 2017 with the symbol of poppy accumulated. Fifa had subsequently allowed this.
What was special about the case Simunic?
The Croatian international Josip Simunic, active in the Bundesliga for Hertha BSC and 1899 Hoffenheim, was overtaken by Fifa in 2013 with a ten-game ban. He had called together with fans after the World Cup playoff game against Iceland the Croatian greeting, which had used the fascist Ustasha in the Second World War. In this case, Fifa did not see the provocation fulfilled, but that of discrimination. The regulations provide for a blocking of ten matches in such a case.
