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Mesut Özil announced in a statement that he would no longer be part of the German national football team. Despite the premature elimination of the first round and the interrogation of football, the motives of the world champion in Brazil are much deeper and resonant: in his statement, he denounces the persistent racist acts of the President of the Federation, Reinhard Grindel, precisely in the middle of the controversy that sparked a media picture of him with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The Complete Declaration:
1 / MEETING OF PRESIDENT ERDOGAN
"The last two weeks have given me time to reflect and give myself the time to reflect on the events of the last few months, so I want to share my thoughts and feelings about what happened, like a lot of people, my ancestry goes back to more than one country As I grow up in Germany, My family background has their roots well established in Turkey, I have two hearts, a german and a german.My childhood, my mother taught me to be always respectful and never to forget about anything. where I come from, and these are values that I still think about today
In May, I met President Erdogan in London, at a charitable and educational event. met for the first time in 2010 after he and Angela Merkel watched together e match Germany against Germany Turkey in Berlin. Since then, our paths have crossed many times around the world. I am aware that the image of us has provoked a great reaction in the German media, and although some may accuse me of lying or deceiving, the picture we took n '. had no political intention. As I said, my mother never allowed me to lose sight of my ancestors, my heritage and family traditions. For me, having a photo with President Erdogan was not a matter of politics or elections, it was about me to respect the highest position in the country of my family. My job is to be a football player and not a politician, and our meeting was not an endorsement of any policy. In fact, we talked about the same subject that we do every time we meet – football – because he was also a player in his youth.
Although the German media portrayed something different, they did not meet it. The president would have disrespected the roots of my ancestors, which I know I would be proud of where I am today. For me, no matter who was president, it did not matter who the president was. Having respect for the political post is an opinion that I am sure Queen and Prime Minister Theresa May share when they also welcomed Erdogan to London. If it was the Turkish President or the German, my actions would not have been different.
I understand that this can be difficult to understand because in most cultures you can not think that the political leader is separate from the person. But in this case, it's different. No matter what happened during those previous elections, or in the previous election, I would have taken the picture. "
2 / MEDIA AND SPONSORS
" I know I'm a footballer He may have played in the three toughest leagues in the world. I have been fortunate enough to receive great support from my teammates and coaches while playing in the Bundesliga, La Liga and Premier League. And also, throughout my career, I have learned to deal with the media.
Many people talk about my performances, many applaud and many criticize. If a newspaper or an expert finds a flaw in a game in which I play, then I can accept that I am not a perfect footballer and this often motivates me to work and train harder. But what I can not accept, is that the German media repeatedly blame my double heritage and a simple image of a bad World Cup on behalf of a whole team.
Some German newspapers use my background and photo with President Erdogan as a right-wing propaganda to promote his political cause. Why did you use pictures and titles with my name as a direct explanation of the defeat in Russia? They did not respect my education. It goes through a personal line that should never be crossed, because the newspapers are trying to divert the German nation against me. Performance and performance did not individualize the team's performance, they only criticized my Turkish ancestry.
What I also find disappointing are the double standards that the media have. Lothar Matthaus (honorary captain of the German national team) met with another world leader a few days ago and received almost no criticism from the media. Despite his role with the DFB (German national team), he has not been asked to publicly explain his actions and continues to represent the players of Germany without any reprimands. If the media felt that he should have been excluded from the World Cup team, then he should surely be stripped of his title of honorary captain? Does my Turkish heritage make me a more dignified target?
I have always thought that a "sponsorship" deduced support, both in good times and in the most difficult situations. Recently, I planned to visit my old school Berger Feld in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, with two of my charity partners. I have founded a project for a year where immigrant children, children from poor families and all other children can play together and learn the social rules for life. However, a few days before the scheduled date, we were abandoned by my supposed sponsors, who did not want to work with me right now. To add to that, the school told my managers that they did not want me anymore at the moment, since they "feared the media" because of my photo with President Erdogan, especially with the "good evening in Gelsenkirchen" on the rise. "Honestly, it really hurts.Although being a student in the past, they made me feel junk and unworthy of my youth."
Also, I was resigned by Another sponsor, as they are also sponsors of the DFB, they asked me to participate in promotional videos for the World Cup.However, after my photo with President Erdogan, they released me campaigns and canceled all planned promotional activities.For them, it was not good to be seen with them and they called the situation "crisis management." All this is ironic because A German ministry said its product had an illegal and unauthorized license.Hundreds of thousands of products are being pulled off the market.While I was criticized and questioned to justify my actions by the DFB, it was not allowed. there was no official public explanation given by the DF sponsor B. Because? Is it fair to think that it is worse than a photo with the president of the country of my family? What does the DFB have to say about all of this?
As I have already said, the sponsors should be with you at all times. Adidas, Beats and BigShoe have been extremely loyal and extraordinary. They rise above the absurdities created by the German press and media, and we carry out our projects in a professional manner which I like to be a part of. During the World Cup, I worked with BigShoe and I helped 23 young people undergo life-changing surgeries, as I had already done in Brazil and Africa. This is, for me, the best thing I've done as a football player, although the newspapers have not found any space even to raise public awareness of this. kind of things. For them, I booed or on a photo with the President of Turkey is more important than helping boys to be exploited worldwide. They also have an awareness raising and fundraising platform, but they do not choose to do so. "
3 / DFB
It can be argued that the issue that has me most frustrated in recent months abuses of the DFB and, in particular, the president of the DFB, Reinhard Grindel After my photo with President Erdogan, Joachim Low asked me to shorten my holidays and go to Berlin and offer a joint statement to end all conversation and clarify things While trying to explain to Grindel my heritage, my ancestry and, therefore, my reasoning behind photography, he was much more interested in talking about his own political views and belittling my opinion.His actions were condescending We agreed that the best thing to do was to focus on football and the next World Cup, which is why I did not attend the DFB Media Day during the World Cup. World Cup preparations for the World Cup had that the journalists were discussing politics and that football was not only attacking, even if Oliver Bierhoff considered that everything was finished in a television interview that he had made before the match against Saudi Arabia in Leverkusen.
Meanwhile, I also met with the President of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Unlike Grindel, President Steinmeier was professional and interested in what he had to say about my family, my heritage and my decisions. I remember that the meeting was only with President Steinmeier, with Grindel upset because he was not allowed to be inside to push his own political agenda. I agree with President Steinmeier on the fact that we will launch a joint statement on the issue, in another attempt to go ahead and focus on football. But Grindel was upset because it was not his team that issued the first statement, annoying because the Steinmeier press office had to take the lead in this matter.
Since the end of the World Cup, Grindel has been under a lot of pressure regarding his decisions before the start of the tournament, and rightly so. Recently, he has stated publicly that he should explain my actions once more and miss me because of the poor results of the team in Russia, even though he told me that everything was over in Berlin. I'm not talking now because of Grindel, but because I want to do it. I will not stand anymore to be a scapegoat for his incompetence and his inability to do his job well. I know that he wanted me to be out of the team after the photo and that he posted his opinion on Twitter without thinking about it or consulting her, but Joachim Low and Oliver Bierhoff m & # 39; have defended and supported. In the eyes of Grindel and his followers, I'm German when you win, but I'm an immigrant when you lose. Indeed, despite paying taxes in Germany, giving facilities to German schools and winning the World Cup with Germany in 2014, I'm still not accepted in society. They treat me as "different". I received the Bambi Award in 2010 as an example of successful integration into the German society. In 2014, I received a silver medal from the Federal Republic of Germany and I was German Football Ambbadador in 2015. But obviously, I am not German. ..? Is there a criterion to be completely German that I do not fit? My friend Lukas Podolski and Miroslav Klose are never known as German-Polish, so why am I German-Turkish? Is it because it is Turkey? Is it because I am a Muslim? think this poses a major problem. Speaking of German-Turkish, you already distinguish people who have a family from more than one country. I was born and I was educated in Germany, so why do not people agree that I am German?
Grindel's opinions are also found elsewhere. Bernd Holzhauer (a German politician) called me a "scapegoat" because of my photo with President Erdogan and my Turkish origin. In addition, Werner Steer (head of the German theater) told me to "kiss me in Anatolia", a place in Turkey where there are many immigrants. As I have already said, criticizing and abusing myself because of my family's ascendancy is a miserable line to go through, and using discrimination as a political propaganda tool is something that should immediately result in resignation of these disrespectful people. These people have used my image with President Erdogan as an opportunity to express their previously hidden racist tendencies, which is dangerous for society. They are no better than the German fan who told me after the match against Sweden "Ozil, verpiss Dich Duche Türkensau, Türkenschwein hau ab, or English" Ozil, bad you, Turkish, and piss on you, Turkish pig. "I do not even want to talk about hate mail, phone threats and comments on social networks that my family and I have received, they all represent a Germany of the past, a Germany not open to new cultures and a Germany that I am not I am sure that many proud Germans who embrace an open society would agree with me.
For you, Reinhard Grindel, I am disappointed but not surprised by your actions.In 2004, while I was a member of the German Parliament, said that "multiculturalism is actually a myth [y] a lie for life", so that he voted against the legislation on dual citizenship and punishments ns for corruption, and stated that the Islamic culture is becoming too entrenched in many German cities. It is unforgivable and unforgettable.
The treatment I received from the DFB and many others does not allow me to wear the jersey of the German national team. I feel junk and I think what I have accomplished since my international debut in 2009 has been forgotten. People with discriminatory racist backgrounds should not be able to work in the largest football federation in the world, which has many players from dual-heritage families. Attitudes like yours simply do not reflect the players they are supposed to represent.
It is with great regret and after much consideration that because of recent events, I will no longer play for Germany at the international level while having this feeling of racism and disrespect. I had used to wear the German shirt with so much pride and emotion, but not now. This decision was extremely difficult because I always gave everything for my teammates, coaching staff and good people from Germany. But when the senior officials of the DFB treat me like they did, they do not respect my Turkish roots and selfishly do me political propaganda, so that's enough. This is not why I play football, and I will not sit and do nothing. Racism should never be accepted. "
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