high-ranking DFB officials disrespect my Turkish roots and selfishly turn me into political propaganda, then enough is enough.
The 29-year-old added that he had received abuse online, and claimed he was racially abused by a supporter after the match against Sweden.
“A German fan told me after the game, ‘Özil, fuck off you Turkish shit, piss off you Turkish pig.’ I don’t want to even discuss the hate mail, threatening phone calls and comments on social media that my family and I have received.
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“They all represent a Germany of the past, a Germany that I am not proud of. I am confident that many proud Germans who embrace an open society would agree with me.”
People with racially discriminative backgrounds should not be allowed to work in the largest football federation in the world that has players from dual‑heritage families. Attitudes like theirs simply do not reflect the players they supposedly represent. In the eyes of Grindel and his supporters, I am German when we win but I am an immigrant when we lose.
“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.”
It is depressing that his international career ends this way, sad for him that he has let the racists and bigots force him to this point, given how he loved playing for his country.
It is reprehensible that people who cannot accept him as German, singled him out for the abuse he has received since the team crashed out of the World Cup.
I accept that he sees his photo op with Erdogan as an apolitical act, a nod to his Turkish heritage - his intention was innocent - however personal intent counts for little when the mass perception is that he was showing support for an authoritarian who is eroding civil rights and supressing liberties in Turkey.
He didn't mean it to be seen that way but that's the world we live in and I think there's definitely an argument against the public nature of the meeting.
However using that meeting as a starting point for attacking Özil's presence in the German team, building on the attack by accusing him of being singularly at fault for Germany's rubbish world cup and then continuing the campaign against him afterwards points towards a malevolence that is worrying because it appears that it is accepted by the management of German football and by elements of the German press.
