Mesut Ozil Announces International Retirement & Cites Racism As The Reason

Mesut Ozil let loose on his emotions and is done with the German national team…

Arsenal star Mesut Ozil posted a lengthy, three-part statement on his social media account detailing the alleged racist abuse he’s received to major figures connected to the German Football Association (DFB) and subsequently announced his resignation from international football.

Germany were disgraced at the World Cup, crashing out the group stage after losing two of their first three games in what was a wimp defence of their world title.

However, heading into the tournament, a national uproar was brewing after Mesut Ozil and Ilkay Gundogan posed for an image in London with Turkish President, Recep Erdogan.

He’s a hostile figure to many in the west given his human rights violations against his own people, and many in Germany felt Ozil and Gundogan were aiding his political agenda by posing for the photo.

The two Premier League stars are of Turkish descent with both of their parents migrating to Germany in order to start a new life. Having said that, both chose to represent Germany at international level.

Despite the presence of both Gundogan and Ozil in the picture, most of the venom from Germany was directed towards the Arsenal man and unearthed the odd statements usually uttered by alt-right activists.

Suddenly, Ozil was facing national calls to ‘prove his loyalty to Germany’ and sing the national anthem with pride – something clearly exclusive to him. Being born in the country and choosing to represent them at national level was no longer enough.

You got the sense that if Germany failed, the knives were already out for Ozil. He refused to explain the idea behind posing with Erdogan heading into the tournament and continued to refrain from singing the national anthem.

After Germany crashed out, it was open season on the Arsenal man. And instead of letting it get the better of him, Ozil has stood up to the challenge and called out his national association for blatant racism and using him to further their alt-right political agendas.

Ozil released a venomous statement and while it’s lengthy and full of talking points, the 29-year-old announced his retirement at the end of his press release: “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.” 

Check out his full statement below:

The past couple of weeks have given me time to reflect, and time to think over the events of the last few months. Consequently, I want to share my thoughts and feelings about what has happened.

A post shared by Mesut Özil (@m10_official) on Jul 22, 2018 at 3:57am PDT

A post shared by Mesut Özil (@m10_official) on Jul 22, 2018 at 6:06am PDT

A post shared by Mesut Özil (@m10_official) on Jul 22, 2018 at 11:08am PDT