The beautiful game and racism

Last Sunday, international footballer Mesut Özil, a German, surprised the world by announcing his resignation from the national team. The 29-year-old Turkish midfielder defended his decision on Twitter by pointing out that "racism and disrespect were the main cause"

"I'm German when we win, but I am an immigrant when we lose, "he wrote. After the elimination of Germany's first round of this year's FIFA World Cup in Russia, some felt that the team was mentally disabled because of a political debate that started a few weeks earlier. In May, Özil met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in London where he posed for a photo with him. Two other Germano-Turkish players, Cenk Tosun and Ilkay Gündogan, did the same, and all were criticized in Germany

. Özil initially remained silent on the issue. But during the World Cup, he was mentioned several times by some commentators. When Germany, defending champion, was eliminated, some German media criticized Özil. In his statement, Özil criticized the media in detail. However, his main target was Reinhard Grindel, the president of the German Football Association (DFB). Mr Özil accused Mr Grindel of racism and said that players with foreign roots were discriminated against. The DFB rejected all charges. Mr. Grindel, a former politician, is well known for his conservative views. During his tenure as a member of Parliament, he said that multicultural societies were a failure. After Mr. Özil left the national team, Mr. Grindel issued a statement saying that "any form of racial hostility will not be accepted or tolerated under any circumstances" within the team.

Institutional Discrimination

According to many Germans with migrant roots, the footballer described his everyday reality often dominated by racism and institutionalized discrimination. "The fact that he has spoken openly has encouraged many people with different backgrounds to talk about their experiences without fear of exclusion," said Çağlar Efe, a journalist from the city of Cologne. According to Mr. Efe, who also has Turkish roots, many people like him face racism on a daily basis.

He believes that the rise of xenophobia in the country is deeply linked to the success of the right-wing alternative. for Germany. In his statement of resignation, Mr. Özil said how often he was offended when insults and racist messages reached him online. He also pointed out that the behavior towards him was different from that towards other migrant actors like Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski, both of whom have Polish roots.

"It is obvious that Islamophobia is linked to this issue: many Germans are demanding more loyalty from Muslim migrants, especially Turks, than from other groups of non-Muslim and white migrants," he said. said Samira Akbari, a student from the city of Berlin

While German Chancellor Angela Merkel praised her sporting success and preferred to remain silent on political issues, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said seized from him.At a press conference, Mr. Maas said that "the case of a multimillionaire who lives in England does not say much about integration in Germany. Currently, Mr Özil is playing for Arsenal, unsurprisingly, Mr Erdoğan offered his support to Mr Özil. "It is not acceptable to treat a young man, who used to play for the German national team, racist way because of his cro religious life, "he said.

Emran Feroz is a freelance journalist based in Stuttgart, Germany