Cacau: the Commissioner for the integration of the DFB criticized Mesut Özil and the DFB

Cacau, representative of the integration of the German Football Association, criticized the retired national player Mesut Özil, but also raised charges against the management of the DFB. Asked if a resignation from DFB President Reinhard Grindel would be helpful, he said on Thursday night in the ARD "Tagesthemen": "It's hard to say right now, because the discussion is so emotional. "

In his opinion, Özil not only made mistakes with his photo with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the long silence afterwards. "But also the DFB, which did not give clear direction from the start and who followed this direction, was a statement today and another tomorrow, and it was difficult, "said Cacau. "You must approach this clearly, transparently and openly." This is unfortunately not the case at the moment. Cacau is himself an ex-national football player and since 2016, integration agent at the DFB.

Özil resigned from the national team last Sunday. In three statements, he had made a roundabout. He particularly criticized the president of the DFB Reinhard Grindel and spoke of racism in the direction of the badociation. "In the eyes of Grindel and his supporters" he was German, if the team won, but a migrant, if she lost, wrote Özil, among others. Grindel rejected the allegations Thursday.

Video on the resignation of Özil: the debate on integration broke out again

Cacau described Özil's racist allegations as "very harsh". He had not experienced anything like this in his years at the DFB, although he also has a recognizable migrant experience – the 37-year-old man is from Brazil. Özil is a very talented player because expectations are high. "A criticism, which is practiced on a player from immigration is not equal to racism."

Similarly, Cacau also commented to the newspaper "Bild": "The criticism is not equal to discrimination or racism, say, it happens just because I'm Brazilian and dark-skinned, "It's not correct and not grown up." The racial charge against the DFB was "simply false".

The public debate is now going in the wrong direction, said Cacau: "One has the feeling, if one sees the news and one reads that Germany is a national problem of racism. is not the case. "

Since the resignation of Özil, more and more people are discussing everyday racism in Germany. For example, thousands of Twitter users share their experiences at #MeTwo . The inventor of the hashtag and initiator of the action is Ali Can. "So to speak, we need a" MeToo "debate for people from immigration," says the 24-year-old in a video posted on Twitter. Learn more about the action here.