German FA reject Mesut Ozil’s racism claim

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The German FA (DFB) have responded to the claims made by Mesut Ozil on his retirement from the German national team. 

Ozil, 29, declared, through a series of three statements on Sunday, he no longer wishes to play for the national team, citing “racism and disrespect” as being behind his decision.

The Arsenal midfielder, who has 92 caps for Germany and helped Die Mannschaft win the World Cup in 2014, was pictured with controversial Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan along with fellow Germany player Ilkay Gundogan at a London event in May, which caused a stir among the German public and the DFB.

The players were reprimanded by the DFB, reminded of their duties as Germany national team players and criticised in the press.

However, on Sunday, 22nd July, Ozil released three statements relating to his meeting with Erdogan, media and sponsors, and the DFB. In the announcements, he also disclosed that he would retire from the national team set-up.

Ozil, who is of mixed German and Turkish ancestry, said the DFB saw him as “German when we win, but I am an immigrant when we lose.”

And now the DFB have responded to Ozil’s allegations, with a message from the president of the association, Reinhard Grindel, saying “We emphatically reject the DFB being linked to racism. The DFB has been very involved in integration work in Germany for many years”, via the official DFB website.

The whole statement reads as follows: “The President of the German Football Association (DFB) has today in a telephone conference with the resignation of Mesut Özil concerned. Mesut Özil has played 92 times for the German national team. He has helped shape a successful era, on and just off the pitch. He made a decisive contribution to Germany becoming world champion in Brazil in 2014. That is why the DFB Mesut Özil is very grateful for his outstanding performance in the jersey of the German national teams.

“Diversity is a strength not only in football. That is why our integration work is of central importance at all levels. From the district class to the national teams belong players with a migration background to the DFB. We play and live together with our different family roots, our religions and cultures. What all of us have to combine on and off the pitch is the observance of the human rights enshrined in the Basic Law, the advocacy of freedom of expression and the press, as well as respect, tolerance and fair play. A commitment to these basic values is required for every player who plays football for Germany.

“Therefore, the pictures with the Turkish President Erdogan have raised questions for many people in Germany. We concede self-critically that the DFB has also made a contribution to dealing with the topic. And it is regrettable that Mesut Özil felt that he had not been sufficiently protected as a target of racist slogans against his person, as was the case with Jerome Boateng.

“But it was important that Mesut Özil, like Ilkay Gündogan before him, gives answers to this photo, regardless of the tournament’s sporting outcome in Russia. In the DFB, we win and lose together, all as a team.

“The DFB would have been happy if Mesut Özil had wanted to remain part of the team on this shared basis. He decided otherwise. The DFB respects that, and for us as an association it is also necessary to respectfully deal with a well-deserved national player, that we leave some statements that are not comprehensible to us in tone and content uncommented in public.

“The fact that the DFB is associated with racism, we reject but with regard to its representatives, employees, the clubs, the performance of millions of volunteers at the base in all clear. For many years, the DFB has been heavily involved in integration work in Germany. Among other things, we award the Integrationspreis, we launched the campaign “1:0 for a Welcome” and we have integrated tens of thousands of refugees into the football family.

“In the past 15 years we established a multi-layered integration work, which has an effect on amateur clubs. The DFB stands for diversity, from the representatives at the top to the countless, day-by-day dedicated people at the base.

“The DFB regrets the departure of Mesut Özil from the national team. However, this does not change the determination of the association to continue the successful integration work consistently and with deep conviction.”

The post German FA reject Mesut Ozil’s racism claim appeared first on Squawka News.



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