WE BACK MESUT
Club come out fighting for Ozil over racism row
ARseNAl chief executive ivan Gazidis roused Arsenal staff and players on Monday night by launching an impassioned defence of under-fire star Mesut Ozil.
Arsenal’s coaching team, players and employees were congregating at a club barbecue on their pre-season trip to singapore when Gazidis stood up and addressed all those in attendance.
Ozil quit the Germany national team in explosive fashion on sunday when he accused the German FA of racism following the row over his pre-World Cup meeting with President tayyip erdogan of turkey. the German FA had critiroom, cised Ozil for meeting erdogan, who has been accused of human rights abuses.
Politicians in Germany had also questioned Ozil’s loyalty to the national cause.
in a string of tweets on sunday, Ozil cited the ‘ racism and disrespect’ that he believes he has faced due to his turkish roots. ‘i am German when we win but an immigrant when we lose,’ Ozil reflected.
However, Arsenal remain fiercely protective of their £350,000-per-week playmaker and Gazidis felt compelled to speak out during the club get-together on Monday evening.
the chief executive made an unprompted speech in which he championed Arsenal’s commitment to diversity and eradicating racism.
He celebrated the multicultural nature of the Arsenal dressing name- checking Nigerian midfielder Alex iwobi and also stressing Arsenal’s support for Ozil, who won 92 caps for Germany.
Witnesses at the meeting said the tone and power of Gazidis’s speech made employees feel proud to work for the club and it was received with rousing applause.
the club also tweeted: ‘Our diversity is a big part of why we are such a special club.’
Defender Hector Bellerin took to social media to defend Ozil. Arsenal are choosing to be supportive in-house but do not intend to complain to Bayern Munich after the club’s president uli Hoeness accused Ozil of ‘playing like s*** for years’ and saying that the German club targeted the player as the ‘weak link’ when the two sides met in the Champions league.
Gazidis has assumed a front-foot role since the departure of Arsene Wenger. He addressed the media following the Frenchman’s exit, accompanied new head coach unai emery to his unveiling and also made another speech earlier this summer when he presented the spanish coach to club employees and players. erdogan waded into the debate yesterday, backing up Ozil’s claim that he is a victim of racism.
the turkish president said: ‘such a racist approach, due to his religion, towards a young person who gave everything for the German national team, contributing to its successes, was completely unacceptable.’