Rob Harris, a journalist from the Associated Press, said that the UEFA dismissed the idea because the attacks were not “related directly” to football.
Although Turkey was one of the 24 nations that participated in last summer’s qualification tournament, its national team was eliminated after coming in third place in its group without enough points to progress to the second round. It was widely-expected that the UEFA would stage a show of support.
At least 42 people died and 130 were injured on Tuesday in a triple suicide bombing by gunmen at Istanbul’s main airport. Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) has claimed responsibility for the terror attack, which was similar to those that took place in Brussels back in April.
In contrast, the UEFA allowed all European nations playing the week after last November’s terror attacks in Paris to wear black armbands and hold a minute of silence before kickoff in honor of the victims. At the time, they issued a statement reading:
“UEFA wishes to express its support and solidarity to France and to those affected by these horrible acts.”