Ozil whips up racism storm, turns back on Germany team
Playmaker accuses German officials of disrespecting his Turkish roots, defends photo with Erdogan
Mesut Ozil’s decision to quit playing for Germany unleashed a racism storm in Berlin, but earned the applause of Ankara with a Turkish minister hailing “a goal against the virus of fascism”.
After months of silence over a controversial photograph with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in May, which sparked questions about his loyalty to Germany, Ozil erupted. The Arsenal midfielder posted a stinging four-page statement taking aim at German federation (DFB) bosses. Ozil, a key member of the squad which won the 2014 World Cup, blamed the DFB management, in particular its president Reinhard Grindel, for failing to side with him against his critics. “In the eyes of Grindel and his supporters, I am German when we win, but I am an immigrant when we lose,” Ozil wrote.
The 29-year-old said he was true to both his Turkish and German origins and insisted he did not intend to make a political statement by appearing with Erdogan just before the World Cup finals.
“I have two hearts, one German and one Turkish,” said Ozil, who was repeatedly singled out for criticism after Germany’s woeful performance in Russia.
Born and raised in Gelsenkirchen, Ozil has scored 23 goals and made 40 assists in 92 appearances with Die Mannschaft. He is third-generation German-Turk .
STATS BACK OZIL
The issue cropped up after Germany’s poor show in Russia where, according to statisticians Opta, Ozil created more chances (5.5) per 90 minutes than any other player in the World Cup finals, pretty remarkable considering Germany lost tow of their group matches and crashed out in the first round. WhoScored, meanwhile, have revealed that no player made more key passes (seven) in a World Cup match than Ozil versus South Korea.
FEDERATION DENIAL
DFB on Monday rejected claims of racism. “We reject the notion that the DFB is associated with racism,” read a statement. “The DFB stands for diversity, from the representatives at the top to the boundless, day-to-day dedication of people at the base. It is regrettable that Mesut Ozil felt that he had not been protected as a target of racist slogans,” it said.
NOTHING NEW
Ozil is not the first to raise the issue of his ethnicity being questioned. Karim Benzema and Romelu Lukaku have done so. “Basically, if I score, I’m French. And if I don’t score or there are problems, I’m Arab,” former France forward Benzema said.
“When things were going well, I was reading newspapers and they were calling me, ‘Romelu Lukaku, the Belgian striker’. When things weren’t going well, they were calling me, ‘Romelu Lukaku, the Belgian striker of Congolese descent’,” Romelu Lukaku said on Players Tribune earlier this year.