Turkish Football Federation (TFF), Merih Demiral v. Union of European Football Associations (UEFA)

At a glance

Parties

Turkish Football Federation (TFF) and Merih Demiral v. Union of European Football Associations (UEFA)

Case no.

CAS ad hoc Division EURO 24/01

Forum and rules

CAS Ad Hoc Division; Arbitration Rules for the UEFA Euro 2024 Final Round; CAS Code

Tribunal

Espen Auberg (Sole Arbitrator)

Sector

Football; disciplinary sanction

Outcome

CAS declined jurisdiction over the appeal against the two-match suspension (operative part 6 July 2024; reasoned award 18 September 2024).

Amount

No monetary claim. The sanction was a suspension of two UEFA representative team competition matches.

The dispute

On 2 July 2024, Turkey beat Austria 2-1 in the round of 16 of EURO 2024. During the match, Turkish player Merih Demiral made a gesture that, according to the appellants, referred to Asena, a she-wolf associated with the Gokturk foundation. On 5 July 2024, UEFA's Appeals Body suspended him for two UEFA representative team competition matches. It found that he had failed to comply with the general principles of conduct, violated basic rules of decent conduct, used a sports event for manifestations of a non-sporting nature and brought football into disrepute. The TFF and the player appealed to the CAS Ad Hoc Division the same day. They argued that the gesture was a non-political symbol of Turkish identity, that the rules were too vague, and that the sanction was disproportionate and breached his freedom of expression and personality rights. UEFA objected to jurisdiction under Article 63(1)(b) of the UEFA Statutes, which excludes CAS appeals against suspensions of a natural person for up to two matches or one month.

Key holdings

1. CAS jurisdiction under Article R47 of the CAS Code requires either a specific arbitration agreement or an express recognition of CAS jurisdiction in the statutes or regulations of the body that issued the decision. ¶¶ 20–22
2. The two-match suspension falls within Article 63(b) of the UEFA Statutes. CAS is therefore not competent to deal with it. ¶¶ 25–26
3. Article 1 of the EURO 2024 Arbitration Rules refers only to Articles 61 and 62 of the UEFA Statutes, but that does not extend CAS jurisdiction during the tournament. Article 4.01(b) of the UEFA EURO Regulations requires recognition of CAS jurisdiction "as defined in the relevant provisions of the UEFA Statutes", which include the exclusions in Article 63. ¶¶ 27–28
4. An association may define and limit the types of disputes that can be appealed to CAS. CAS 2022/A/8871 and CAS 2020/A/7090 dealt with limits on association autonomy only on the merits, not on jurisdiction. ¶¶ 29–31
5. An alleged violation of a right, including personality rights and due process, cannot make up for the lack of a valid arbitration agreement. CAS therefore has no jurisdiction, and all other prayers for relief are dismissed. ¶¶ 32–33; operative part

Procedural history

1. 2 July 2024Turkey v. Austria, EURO 2024 round of 16; Turkey won 2-1.
2. 4 July 2024UEFA informed the TFF that disciplinary proceedings had been opened under Article 55(1)(d) of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations.
3. 5 July 2024UEFA's Appeals Body suspended Merih Demiral for two matches (case 38586 – EURO – 2023/2024). The TFF and the player filed a Statement of Appeal with the CAS Ad Hoc Division the same day.
4. 6 July 2024Sole Arbitrator Espen Auberg appointed. UEFA filed its reply objecting to jurisdiction, and the appellants commented on the objection. The operative part of the award, declining jurisdiction, was issued the same day.
5. 18 September 2024Reasoned award issued.

Tribunal, counsel and experts

Decided by

• Espen Auberg Sole arbitrator, CAS Ad Hoc Division — appointed by the institution

Run a conflict check on these names →

Keywords

• CAS jurisdiction
• CAS Ad Hoc Division
• EURO 2024
• Merih Demiral
• Asena
• wolf gesture
• UEFA Statutes Article 63
• excluded jurisdiction
• two-match suspension
• Article R47 CAS Code
• freedom of expression
• personality rights
• association autonomy
• disciplinary sanction
• Turkey v Austria
• arbitration agreement

Summary generated with AI from the published documents — refer to the award for the authoritative text.