Former German Football Federation (DFB) president Theo Zwanziger is saddened by Mesut Ozil’s retirement as a result of feeling persecuted.
Ozil released a three-part statement outlining how he felt after severe criticism that directed to him just before the World Cup in Russia for meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The midfielder targetted the media, sponsors, and fans but he directed his most anger to DFB current president Reinhard Grindel. Ozil stated that Grindel is incompetent and that he has been using him as a scapegoat whenever Germany lost any match.
Zwanziger defended Grindel but further stated that he understands the circumstances under which the 29-year old midfielder is retiring from international football.
“I am deeply saddened by the decision made by Mesut Ozil. [It’s] a major setback for the integration efforts in our country beyond the football. Due to errors in communication, something has happened that must never happen to migrants: they must never feel like second-class German citizens. If this impression arises, you have to take counter-measures. I know Reinhard Grindel and Oliver Bierhoff well enough to say that I cannot imagine that they would consciously bring about such a situation.” Zwanziger told Deutschen Presse-Agentur.
Germany failed to defend their World Cup title in Russia and did not progress from the group stage.
Ozil confirmed he is retiring from international football with immediate effect.
The Germany midfielder made the announcement on Sunday evening citing “racism and disrespect” following his high-profile and controversial meeting with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan prior to the World Cup. The picture with Erdogan, which was taken before this summer’s World Cup, saw the Arsenal midfielder pose the Turkish president and German teammate Ilkay Gundogan.
After earlier moving to clarify his position over the picture in question Ozil again took to Twitter to officially announce his retirement from the international game.
“The treatment I have received from the DFB and many others makes me no longer want to wear the German national team shirt,” he said as part of a lengthy statement. “I feel unwanted and think that what I have achieved since my international debut in 2009 has been forgotten.”
He added: “It is with a heavy heart and after much consideration that because of recent events, I will no longer be playing for Germany at international level whilst 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.
This decision has benn extremely difficult to make because I have always given everything for my teammates, the coaching staff and the good people of Germany. But when high-ranking DFB officials treat me as they did, disrespect my Turkish roots and selfishly turn me into political propaganda, then enough is enough.
“That is not why I play football, and I will not sit back and do nothing about it. Racism should never be accepted.”
He had earlier posted “If a newspaper or pundit finds fault in a game I play in, then I can accept this – I’m not a perfect footballer and this often motivates me to work and train harder,” Ozil wrote. But what I can’t accept are German media outlets repeatedly blaming my dual-heritage and a simple picture for a bad World Cup on behalf of an entire squad.”
This crosses a personal line that should never be crossed, as newspapers try to turn the nation of Germany against me,” he continued. What I also find disappointing are the double standards that the media has. Lothar Matthaus met with another world leader a few days back, and received almost no criticism. Despite his role with the DFB, they have not asked him to publicly explain his actions and he continues to represent the players of Germany without any reprimand. If the media felt that I should have been left out of the World Cup squad, then surely he should be stripped of his honorary captaincy? Does my Turkish heritage make me a more worthy target?”
“I was renounced by another partner,” Ozil said. “As they are also a sponsor of the DFB, I was asked to take part in promotional videos for the World Cup. Yet after my picture with president Erdogan, they took me out of the campaigns and cancelled all promotional activities that were scheduled. For them, it was no longer good to be seen with me and called the situation ‘crisis management’. This is all ironic because a German Ministry declared their products have illegal and unauthorised software devices in them, which puts customers at risk. Hundreds of thousands of their products are getting recalled. Whilst I was being criticised and asked to justify my actions by the DFB, there was no such official and public explanation demanded of the DFB sponsor. Why? Am I right in thinking this is worse than a picture with the president of my family’s country? What does the DFB have to say about all this?”