The disciplinary council of the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) on Tuesday banned Deniz Naki from all competitive matches for three years and six months — procedurally that equates to a lifetime ban in Turkey — for spreading "separatist and ideological propaganda." Naki was also fined 273,000 Turkish lira (roughly $72,000, €58,000), DW reported.

The 28-year-old Kurdish-German midfielder is a prominent supporter of Turkey's Kurds. He had called called for people to take part in a major Kurdish protest in the German city of Cologne at the weekend. Protesters were rallying against Turkey's military offensive in the Kurdish Afrin region of northern Syria.