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Turkish lawyer has filed a complaint to UEFA, the European football federation, after Italian club Inter Milan wore a football jersey with a symbol said to be offensive to Islam, during a game with the Turkish team Fenerbahce.
The symbol of the northern Italian city of Milan, a red cross on a white background, was on the Inter Milan shirts during the Champions League game in November which saw Fenerbahce lose by 3 goals to zero at Milan's San Siro stadium.
Lawyer Baris Kaska, has asked a Turkish tribunal to sanction Inter Milan for wearing the shirts, which he says reminded Turks of an emblem of the Christian order of the Knights Templar.
The symbol is tied closely to the Crusades in the Middle Ages, when the Christian powers of Europe tried to recapture the Holy Land from the Muslims, with constant and ferocious military expeditions.
Inter Milan were wearing their new strip which had been designed to celebrate the club's centenary year.
"That cross only brings one thing to mind: the symbol of the Templar Knights," said Mr Kaska.
It made me think immediately of the bloody days of the past. While I was watching the game, I felt profound grief within my soul," he added, speaking in Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia.
He claimed that Inter Milan had deliberately "manifested in the most explicit manner the superiority of one religion over another. His claims were also supproted by Turkish media.
He has asked UEFA, which organises the Champions League tournament, to cancel the three points earned by Inter Milan after its victory over Fenerbahce.
Inter Milan consciously decided not to wear the controversial shirt during their match in Istanbul, but did not think it was necessary to do the same while playing the return game in Milan.
Neither Inter Milan nor UEFA have made an official response to the complaint but are reported to have said that the red cross on a white background is the symbol of Milan.
There have also been suggestions that Mr Kaska's complaint was motivated more by the poor result of his team rather than his religious beliefs.
Inter Milan officials said that the strip was approved by UEFA officials ahead of the start of the season and that Fenerbace had also agreed to letting Inter play in the kit before last month's game.
Turkish lawyer has filed a complaint to UEFA, the European football federation, after Italian club Inter Milan wore a football jersey with a symbol said to be offensive to Islam, during a game with the Turkish team Fenerbahce.
The symbol of the northern Italian city of Milan, a red cross on a white background, was on the Inter Milan shirts during the Champions League game in November which saw Fenerbahce lose by 3 goals to zero at Milan's San Siro stadium.
Lawyer Baris Kaska, has asked a Turkish tribunal to sanction Inter Milan for wearing the shirts, which he says reminded Turks of an emblem of the Christian order of the Knights Templar.
The symbol is tied closely to the Crusades in the Middle Ages, when the Christian powers of Europe tried to recapture the Holy Land from the Muslims, with constant and ferocious military expeditions.
Inter Milan were wearing their new strip which had been designed to celebrate the club's centenary year.
"That cross only brings one thing to mind: the symbol of the Templar Knights," said Mr Kaska.
It made me think immediately of the bloody days of the past. While I was watching the game, I felt profound grief within my soul," he added, speaking in Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia.
He claimed that Inter Milan had deliberately "manifested in the most explicit manner the superiority of one religion over another. His claims were also supproted by Turkish media.
He has asked UEFA, which organises the Champions League tournament, to cancel the three points earned by Inter Milan after its victory over Fenerbahce.
Inter Milan consciously decided not to wear the controversial shirt during their match in Istanbul, but did not think it was necessary to do the same while playing the return game in Milan.
Neither Inter Milan nor UEFA have made an official response to the complaint but are reported to have said that the red cross on a white background is the symbol of Milan.
There have also been suggestions that Mr Kaska's complaint was motivated more by the poor result of his team rather than his religious beliefs.
Inter Milan officials said that the strip was approved by UEFA officials ahead of the start of the season and that Fenerbace had also agreed to letting Inter play in the kit before last month's game.
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