Germany national team manager Joachim Low has responded to Mesut Ozil and Ilkay Gundogan meeting Turkey president Recep Tayyip Erdogan on his latest trip to the UK.
Ozil and Gundogan, who are both Germany international players of Turkish descent met president Erdogan, gave signed club shirts as a gift and posed for photographs.
The German Football Federation (DFB) criticised Ozil and Gundogan, who appeared alongside Everton and Turkey striker Cenk Tosun.
Turkish Football Federation president Yildirim Demiroren hit back with a TFF statement saying: “The comments made by the DFB president are ridiculous.
“They are Germany born players of Turkish origin. Regardless of where you come from, it is perfectly understandable to turn up to an invite from a head of state”
Speaking at a news conference after Germany convened at their Eppan training camp, Low revealed he had discussed the matter with his players and felt assured that the act was not political.
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“We’ve had a private discussion and both players have assured us that no political message was intended,” he said.
“For me, it’s no longer an issue within the team and the sporting aspects will now take over.”
Gundogan insisted after the controversy he didn’t want to make a political statement with this photo.
The midfielder of Turkish origin wrote ‘my president’ on the shirt he gave to Erdogan, which technically is correct.
Gundogan is eligible for Turkish citizenship and was expressing goodwill to the leader of his other country.
