Arsenal legend Ian Wright came out in support of Mesut Ozil following his decision to retire from international football.
Wright sent out a tweet making it clear that Ozil has ‘our full support’ for speaking about the way he has been treated.
We were always told to “just play”, “be grateful” and “stay out of politics”. You have our full support @MesutOzil1088 for speaking out on your experiences and issues that are so much bigger and more important than football ✊?⚽❤️?
— Ian Wright (@IanWright0) July 24, 2018
Ozil shared a three-part statement on social media where he explained in detail that he had suffered racist abuse and used as a scapegoat for Germany bowing out of the World Cup in the first-round.
The playmaker feels his Turkish roots resulted in him being targetted and exploited for right-wing political agendas.
Ozil feels the photograph he took with Turkish president Recept Tayyip Erdogan is being used to demonise him and that he does not feel accepted in the country he was born in.
“A German fan told me after the game, ‘Özil, f*%^ off you Turkish sh*, 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,” Ozil said in his statement.
“In the eyes of Grindel and his supporters, I am German when we win, but I am an immigrant when we lose. This is because despite paying taxes in Germany, donating facilities to German schools and winning the World Cup with Germany in 2014, I am still not accepted into society. I am treated as being ‘different’.
“Are there criteria for being fully German that I do not fit? My friends Lukas Podolski and Miroslav Klose are never referred to as German-Polish, so why am I German-Turkish?
“I was born and educated in Germany, so why don’t people accept that I am German?”
The 29-year-old felt particularly let down by DfB president Reinhard Grindel.
“Whilst I attempted to explain to Grindel my heritage, ancestry and therefore reasoning behind the photo, he was far more interested in speaking about his own political views and belittling my opinion,” he added.
“I will no longer stand for being a scapegoat for [Grindel’s] incompetence and ability to do his job properly. I know that he wanted me out of the team after the picture, and publicized his view on Twitter without any thinking or consultation, but Joachim Löw and Oliver Bierhoff stood up for me and backed me.”
Ozil has returned to Arsenal pre-season early and made the trip to Singapore for the International Champions Cup.
