Originally posted by Wikinews.
Wikinews content appears under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 license
except where specified. As these articles are static snapshots of news
items that may be later updated, they may not represent the latest or final
revision of that article, and posted information may be only preliminary.

German footballer Mesut Özil announces retirement from international
football over 'racism'
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
July 25, 2018
Original URL: https://en.wikinews.org/wiki/German_footballer_Mesut_%C3%96zil_announces_retirement_from_international_football_over_%27racism%27


On Sunday, German footballer Mesut Özil announced retiring from
international football via his official Twitter handle. The 29-year-old
gave racism as the reason for his retirement.
[[File:Mesut Özil, Germany national football team
(04).jpg|thumb|left|File photo of Özil, 2011. 
([https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/deed.en CC BY-SA 2.5])
Özil and his international teammate İlkay Gündoğan, who are of
Turkish origin, met the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in
London in May. The two players took a photo with Erdoğan, after which,
many Germans reportedly booed the players prior to this year's FIFA
Football World Cup in Russia. Özil said that he received hate mail and
threats after meeting the Turkish president.

In his tweets, Özil 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 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. I feel unwanted and think that what I have
achieved since my international debut in 2009 has been forgotten."

Speaking about his meeting with the Turkish president, Özil said, "Like
many people, my ancestry traces back to more than one country. Whilst I
grew up in Germany, my family background has its roots firmly based in
Turkey [...] For me, having a picture with President Erdoğan wasn't
about politics or elections, it was about me respecting the highest
office of my family's country". Referring to the German football
association's president, Reinhard Grindel, Özil said, "In the eyes of
Grindel and his supporters, I am German when we win but I am an
immigrant when we lose."

Özil made his international debut on August 12, 2009, playing against
Azerbaijan. Since then, he has featured in 92 matches for Germany,
scoring 23 goals. Özil was part of 2014's World Cup winning squad.

, the German football association Deutscher Fußball-Bund said in a
statement. It also said, 

Özil's last match for Germany was against South Korea in this year's
FIFA World Cup, which ended in a 2 -- 0 defeat for Germany, as the 2014
winners failed to qualify for the knockout phase.

== Related news ==

*

== Sources == 

* https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/jul/22/mesut-ozil-retires-german-national-team-discrimination
* https://www.dfb.de/news/detail/dfb-statement-on-mesut-oezil-190112/
* https://www.dfb.de/news/detail/erklaerung-des-dfb-praesidiums-zum-ruecktritt-von-mesut-oezil-190102/
* http://www.chicagotribune.com/90minutes/ct-90mins-ozil-quits-german-national-team-citing-racism-20180722-story.html
* https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/ozil-retires-from-german-national-team



.