Mesut Ozil: Is he right about DFB

Mesut Ozil retires from International football

The midfielder claims to have been the subject of "racism and disrespect" following his high-profile and controversial meeting with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Let us First have a look at what Ozil stated as a reason for his retirement on twitter 

"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, ever be accepted."

A World Cup winner in 2014, capped 92 times by his country, he is the most influential German player at present.

That comes from being of German-Turkish descent, along with having played in Spain and England. Combine his followers on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook and you get a figure of 72 million.For the Germany team itself, he had been an important regular. Before being dropped against Sweden for the second game of the World Cup in Russia, he had started every game at a major competition since the 2010 World Cup, his debut on the competitive global stage.

The controversy around him dates back to May, a day before Germany's World Cup squad was announced. Ozil, along with Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan, was photographed with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Ilkay Gundogan and Mesut Ozil, along with Everton's Germany-born Turkey striker Cenk Tosun, pose with the Turkish president.Image credit :GETTY IMAGES

That was dimly viewed in Germany, with Erdogan approaching another election and seen by many in the country as a dictator. Only in February, for instance, was German journalist Deniz Yucel released having been detained for a year, accused of spreading propaganda.

"Both [Ozil and Gundogan] have made a mistake but we also have to keep this in perspective," said German FA president Reinhard Grindel before the World Cup.

Now lest us have a look at main vllian of  Recep Tayyip Erdogan.Erdogan is the person responsible for recent poliitcal unrest Turkey.He is considered as a dictator by many countries and is trying to end the secular status of Turkey,though he narrowly won the last referendum by 51.6% votes.He also survived a Military coup in 2016 by appealing to the people through face time on Live tv.Thousands civilians rushed to the streets armed with nothing but only kitchen utensils.Following this the army surrendered and Erdogan regained power.

The Turkish army often blamed to cause political instability in the country,has keeped the country still secular despite the country having 96.4 percent of Muslim Population.The Army follows the principle of Mustafa Kemal Pasha ATATURK who reformed Turkey and made it a secular country and took it towards the path of development.Erdogan on the other hand was jailed in 1998 for religious hatred speech and he has recently removed the ban on Face scarf which Pasha had introduced when he came into power.If Erdogan contiues, sooner or later Turkey will follow the path of its middle east Muslim neighbours like Syria,Lebnon and Iraq.

So why did Ozil support such a dictator?The reason lies in the sympathy which Erdogan gained after the military coup.He was depicted as a hero by the media in Turkey which helped him to increase his political power.Ozil though is not the only player who ha scome under recent criticism for political resons.

Egyptian soccer star Mohamed Salah found himself at center of a social media storm after being photographed with Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov in Grozny during Egypts world cup training sessions.

Chechnya has long been criticized for its human rights record, which includes allegations of torture and repeated maltreatment of political opponents and the LGBT community. Kadyrov has said previously that there are no gay people in Chechnya.

New York Times soccer columnist Rory Smith tweeted an image of Salah with Kadyrov, calling it "as good an illustration of the World Cup as a political/propaganda tool as you'll get. Proximity to these players shows power, boosts profile, confers some form of legitimacy." 

CONCLUSION-While its normal for football players to pose for photos,they should also realize the fact that one one photo is enough to degrade their image on a global scale.It also serves as an easy was for political leaders to spread their propoganda as for instance Ozil has 72 million followers on twitter, instagram and facebook combined.DFB isn't wrong about Ozil either because Ozil as a senior member of the sqaud should had realized the concequences his actions might lead to.Not all German players were of Turkish decent and not all players would have approved Ozil's action

What do you think about it?Let me know in the comments

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