Germany’s Mesut Ozil announced his retirement from international football Sunday at the age of 29, citing racism and lashing out at the president of the German football federation.
The Arsenal midfielder will not add to his 92 caps, 23 goals and 40 assists for his country following political tensions regarding his Turkish roots and being dropped from the starting XI during this summer’s World Cup as the defending champions crashed out in the group stage.
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Ozil, who has Turkish roots, had earlier defended his decision to pose for a photograph with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in May which sparked questions about his loyalty to Germany’s squad ahead of the World Cup in Russia. It was in May that Ozil was criticised after being photographed with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a London event.
Ozil attended the event with fellow Germany international Ilkay Gundogan. Both Ozil and Manchester City’s Gundogan are of Turkish descent.
In a three-part statement on Twitter sent over the course of the day, an angry Ozil saved his bombshell for the final salvo. In it, the Arsenal midfielder blamed the German Football Federation (DFB) for failing to defend him against his most strident critics.
“Arguably the issue that has frustrated me the most over the past couple of months has been the mistreatment from the DFB, and in particular the DFB President Richard Grindel,” he said.
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