Shkodran Mustafi admits Germany will miss Mesut Ozil but fully respects his Arsenal team-mate’s “personal decision” to retire from international football.
Criticised prior to the World Cup after meeting with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Ozil was back in the spotlight after the holders fell at the first hurdle in Russia, finishing bottom of Group F.
The 29-year-old used a series of statements on social media to air his disappointment at his treatment, claiming some the criticism of his performances amounted to “racism” and accusing senior figures in German football of not doing enough to protect him, adding he would no longer make himself available for coach Joachim Low.
Mustafi – who, along with Ozil, was a part of the Germany squad crowned world champions in 2014 – has spoken out in support of his friend.
“I think it is a personal decision he made. As a team-mate and a friend, I stand beside him and if he needs help, I’m going be there for him.
“Of course, I’m a bit disappointed because I think he’s an excellent footballer who has given a lot to the German national team.
Mustafi and Ozil are both part of the Arsenal squad on tour in Singapore under the guidance of Unai Emery, who has overseen a series of new signings since the end of the 2017-18 season.
Centre-back Sokratis Papastathopoulos’ arrival from Borussia Dortmund adds another defensive option for the new head coach but, rather than worry about his own future, Mustafi has welcomed the extra competition.
“Well, the pressure is always on. You have to defend your spot in the team always and if you’re not in the team, the pressure is there to claim a spot in the 11,” he said.
“It is nothing new. We are professionals and we have to handle pressure and perform.”
In his statement Ozil called out the DFB, Reinhard Grindel in particular, saying:
I will no longer stand for being a scapegoat for his incompetence and inability to do his job properly. I know that he wanted me out the team after the picture, and publicised his view on Twitter without any thinking or consultation, but Joachim Low and Oliver Bierhoff stood up for me and backed me. In the eyes of Grindel and his supporters, I am German when we win, but I am an immigrant when we lose. This is because despite paying taxes in Germany, donating facilities to German schools and winning the World Cup with Germany in 2014, I am still not accepted into society. I am treated as being ‘different.
My friends Lukas Podolski and Miroslav Klose are never referred to as German-Polish, so why am I German-Turkish? Is it because it is Turkey? Is it because I’m a Muslim? I think here lays an important issue. By being referred to as German-Turkish, it is already distinguishing people who have family from more than one country. I was born and educated in Germany, so why don’t people accept that I am German?
Citing examples of abuse and the treatment he’s had from politicians and some German football fans he goes on to say he will no longer play for the national side as long as he feels this discrimination:
I don’t want to even discuss the hate mail, threatening phone calls and comments on social media that my family and I have received. They all represent a Germany of the past, a Germany not open to new cultures, and a Germany that I am not proud of. I am confident that many proud Germans who embrace an open society would agree with me.
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 that 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 many players from dual-heritage families. Attitudes like theirs simply do not reflect the players they supposedly represent.
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 been 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, ever be accepted.