‘I’m German When We Win But An Immigrant When We Lose’ – Mesut Ozil Quits International Football And Points Finger At German FA

Alan Duffy

22nd, July 2018

8 Comments

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Mesut Ozil has announced his retirement from international football, claiming the German Football Association’s attitude had made him “no longer want to wear the German national team shirt”.

Ozil was heavily criticised for his performance at the 2018 World Cup, where a lacklustre German side failed to make it out of the group stages.

Prior to the Word Cup, Ozil also found himself in hot water with the German media and political establishment after he and Manchester City’s Ilkay Gundogan were photographed with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan at an event in London.

Now, the Arsenal playmaker has decided he has had enough, posting a lengthy statement on Twitter where he explains the importance of his Turkish heritage as well as pointing the finger at the DFB’s president, Reinhard Grindel.

Ozil wrote:

For me, having a picture with President Erdogan wasn’t about politics or elections, it was about me respecting the highest office of my family’s country. My job is a football player and not a politician, and our meeting was not an endorsement of any policies.

The treatment I have received from the DFB and many others makes me no longer want to wear the German national team shirt. I feel unwanted and think what I have achieved since my international debut in 2009 has been forgotten.

People with racially discriminative backgrounds should not be allowed to work in the largest football federation in the world that has players from dual‑heritage families. Attitudes like theirs simply do not reflect the players they supposedly represent. In the eyes of Grindel and his supporters, I am German when we win but I am an immigrant when we lose.

It is with a heavy heart and after much consideration that because of recent events, I will no longer be playing for Germany while I have this feeling of racism and disrespect. I used to wear the German shirt with such pride and excitement, but now I don’t.

Ozil certainly pulls no punches here but his comments are sure to put the German footballing authorities under the spotlight.

The 29-year-old is no stranger to criticism, with his performances regularly pulled to pieces by journalists, pundits and Twitter’s infinite army of angry ‘experts’.

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It seems that the German has finally had enough, which is understandable. His performances in Russia were admittedly disappointing but no worse than most of his teammates.

With 23 goals in 92 appearances and a World Cup winner’s medal to boot, Ozil has been a fine servant to his country’s national side. However, now he can focus on helping Arsenal to kickstart their fortunes under Unai Emery, once the dust has settled on all this.

Here are the full statements as Tweeted by the man himself…

Posted in Arsenal, International football, World Cup

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8 Comments

  1. Stefano says:

    Özil: Hybris. It`s so poor claiming rascism when you screw up.

    I`m really happy that this kind of player retires.

    • Ikuku says:

      “Certain German newspapers are using my background and photo with President Erdogan as right-wing propaganda to further their political cause. Why else did they use pictures and headlines with my name as a direct explanation for defeat in Russia? They didn’t criticise my performances, they didn’t criticise the team’s performances, they just criticised my Turkish ancestry and respect for my upbringing. This crosses a personal line that should never be crossed”.

  2. Andrew says:

    He put more effort into that tweet than he did in his last 2 seasons at Arsenal. God damn that man. What a douche.

  3. Fart Garfunkel says:

    I’m not Ozil, so I don’t know exactly what he’s experiencing right now. However, you have to lack a serious social conscience to smile next to Erdogan. Mind you, this is the same guy who wants to throw basketball player Enes Kanter (probably the best Turkish player in the NBA) and his family in prison and would do the same to Ozil’s family if he had the guts to speak out against this fascist thug.

    • Franny says:

      Exactly, who’s to say that he wasn’t implicitly threatened? “Smile and wave Mesut, remember you have family in Turkey” If Erdogan can do the things he has done, then he is not beyond doing something like that?

      Same with the Salah photo with Ramzan Kadyrov, Salah obviously wasn’t endorsing him but might have been caught between a rock and a hard place?

    • dc says:

      Completely sympathize with Ozil. The Erdogan photo was detestable but at the same time, if you think about it, it was absolutely a case of Erdogan wanting to use him for political reasons given the amount of German-Turks who comprise his voting base, and the reaction of the Germans was equal and opposite. Meanwhile there’s a guy in the middle who’s afraid to be the next Enes Kanter but still becomes his own country’s scapegoat anyway. You have to feel for him.

    • PetrovskyKSC says:

      What is has been going on in the media on the issue is no less than off the rails. It was more than visible that our society definitely has not gotten rid of racism. Instead, racism completely resurfaced and was merely directed at ozil. Additionally, i fully support the punch he threw at the president of the German FA because this guy is nothing more than an carreerist right-wing cunt.
      However, the özils explanations cannot be taken fully seriously since his twitter statements were written by his media consultants. he never ever tried to give a personal interview on the matter to diffuse it. It might have helped to silence his critics and the angry public.
      What caught my intention was his stupid whataboutism regarding matthäus’ meeting with mr. putin which nobody took note of since the man hasnt been taken seriously for the last 20 years at least.
      To put things in perspective, Emre Can for example declined the invitation by Erdogan and didn’t waste a minute on thinking about the consequences. Sometimes you have to make stand in life and he failed to do that. Trying to justify everything with respect due for whoever (may it be dictator treating opposition like shit or a good guy) the president of your country of origin is, is just miserable opportunism. I once thought he was quite a class act but yeah no.

  4. Comfy Chair says:

    A lot to think about, especially the Erdgan thing…. Plenty of USA athletes refuse to meet with the fat assed orange son-of-a-bitch in Washington…..

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