A German player with Turkish roots says he's leaving the national team against racism: NPR

Mesut Ozil is widely regarded as one of the most talented players of the German national football team. But he says his playing days for Germany, the country where he was born, are over.

In a long statement posted on his Twitter account the midfielder says he quits because of racism. the most spectacular after posing for a photo in May with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Ozil said that in the eyes of his detractors, "I am German when we win, but I am an immigrant when we lose". His family has roots in Turkey and he is proud of his origins. "I have two hearts, a German and a Turkish."

He said that after the infamous photo with Erdogan was picked up by the German media, it caused a storm of criticism and racist language.

Erdogan was criticized by Last month, Erdogan won a presidential election that expanded his powers.

In his statement, Ozil said the photo was taken at an event in London. "It was not about politics or elections, it was about me respecting the highest function of the country of my family." He said that they were talking about football, and that he would have taken a photo with any Turkish leader.

The reaction to the picture was however fast. Ozil said that a sponsor and charities he works with cut ties with him. He added that the president of the German Football Association Reinhard Grindel had asked him to explain his actions and suggested that this could have been a contributing factor to the unsuccessful performance of the team at the World Cup. (Germany, reigning champion, was eliminated in the group stage.)

"I will no longer be a scapegoat for his incompetence and inability to do his job well," said Ozil, who plays also for Arsenal. "It is with heavy heart and after much consideration that, because of recent events, I will no longer play for Germany at the international level while I have that feeling of racism and of course." Disrespect. "

The German Football Association" rejected the accusation of racism and declared that she would have been happy if Özil had remained a national team player, "according to Deutsche Welle

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said by a spokeswoman that she" respects "Ozil's decision and its achievements, has BBC reported

Other prominent politicians call for introspection

"I think everyone involved in this case should look at the ", Said the German Minister of State Heiko Maas, according to Deutsche Welle . "I see very few people who, I would say, have behaved well."

On ESPN, writer Raphael Honigstein noted that "what is completely missing from Ozil's statement," 39 is the regret or even the recognition that the meeting created momentary, undesirable distraction for the entire German team a few days before they had to leave for Russia. "

But Honigstein said that, above all, this day is more painful than the defeat of the World Cup:" The most technically endowed player of his generation believes that he can no longer represent the white and black colors due to racism. "