Mesut Ozil has quit international football after accusing the German board and media of pulling out his Turkish heritage to target him for the team’s bad performance during the 2018 World Cup.
The playmaker was criticized after he was pictured with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a London event in May after which he was subject to numerous hate mails and threats.
Ozil also went on to claim that he was singled out for Germany’s World Cup loss.
“I am German when we win, but I am an immigrant when we lose,” Ozil said.
“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 while 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. I feel unwanted and think that what I have achieved since my international debut in 2009 has been forgotten.”
The statement has caused an uproar in world football and since then many comments have been made about racism in football and the urgent need to stop it.
While the German board has released a statement rubbishing Mesut Ozil’s claims but the fans were waiting for FIFA – the governing body of footballing to have a say in this matter.
And thankfully they did make a comment. But not in the way everyone wanted.
FIFA sent out a tweet to Mesut Ozil congratulating him for his illustrious international career but oddly enough the tweet had no mention of all the racism allegations.
🇩🇪@MesutOzil1088 has called time on his international career with @DFB_Team_EN.
Congratulations on being a part of #WorldCup history while wearing the shirt, Mesut 👏 pic.twitter.com/LYaiOHuAvA
— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) July 22, 2018
And immediately after the tweet, fans called out FIFA on their dubious standards and their failure to take a stand against a deep-rooted problem like racism.
Hello FIFA,
It is not a MUST to join the bandwagon and tweet because OZIL is TRENDING WORLDWIDE.
He isn't just retiring at 28, he's quitting because of RACISM.
Tell the world why. https://t.co/gxoL4TRaWy
— Adebola Taofeek (@iam_ademuyiwa) July 23, 2018
FIFA go on and advertise “say no to racism” everywhere.
Yet they are quiet when players like Ozil receive abuse and are racially discriminated.
It's very sad to see racism has won again.— P™ (@Cechque) July 22, 2018
"🇩🇪@MesutOzil1088 has called time on his international career with @DFB_Team_EN because of racism .
Congratulations on being a part of #WorldCup history while wearing the shirt, Mesut 👏 "
— Lexx (@niKamaa1) July 22, 2018
It's not time to say no to racism but it's time to show action against those racists. 😡
Felt sad for Mesut Ozil 🙁
FIFA ???— Roshan Tamang (@C_Roshan7) July 23, 2018
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