UEFA denies claims of probe into Turkey's military salute celebration


The European football governing body UEFA on Sunday denied claims it would investigate the Turkish national team over is goal celebration in a recent game.

Turkish player celebrated Cenk Tosun's late winner in a match against Albania in the Euro 2020 qualifiers with a military salute.

The game was played as Turkish military launched an anti-terror operation in northern Syria. Some spectators deemed the celebration political, which are punishable under UEFA rules.

Several media outlets quoted UEFA's media head Philip Townsend as saying the organization opened an investigation into the matter and the team faces a punishment.

Townsend, however, denied those claims.

"UEFA made no comments on Friday's match (between Turkey and Albania)," he said.

Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring, the third in a series of cross-border anti-terror operations in northern Syria targeting terrorists affiliated with Daesh and the PKK's Syrian offshoot the People's Protection Units (YPG), on October 9 at 4 p.m.

The operation, conducted in line with the country's right to self-defense borne out of international law and U.N. Security Council resolutions, aims to establish a terror-free safe zone for Syrians return in the area east of the Euphrates River controlled by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which is dominated by YPG terrorists.