Mesut Ozil Retires from Germany Amid Controversy2 min read

After an unfortunate World Cup campaign this year in Russia, Germany have suffered another loss as one of their best playmakers to date, Mesut Ozil, has retired after receiving abuse from the Deutsch media.

A lot of controversy was covered on the news after a picture of Ozil surfaced with the President of Turkey Recep Erdogan.

Many believed the photo with the Justice and Development Party leader was politically motivated due to the time span in which it was taken.

In late June, Erdogan won the election with a majority of 52.59% in votes.

After Germany’s loss in the World Cup, it seemed that people were trying the scapegoat Ozil but weren’t sure to which motivation the blame was going to be on.

After the picture with Erdogan in May, the Arsenal midfielder received bombardment from the German Football Association (DFB),  press and general public alike.

German politicians were also questioning Ozil’s loyalty to German democratic values after a picture of him and Manchester City’s Ilkay Gundogan appeared with the Turkish president.

Both had repeatedly said that there was no political intentions at all, rather they all talked about football.

On instagram, Ozil let the world know that he was upset by the way he has been treated in the last month or so by different people.

In a three-post written statement, the 29-year-old highlighted how along with DFB, right-wing groups tried to slander the star with political context even though there was no such intention involved.

He pointed out how the president for DFB, Reinhard Grindel, ignored Ozil’s explanation and gave his own political perspective, putting things out of proportion.

The former Germany players believes he is being discriminated against due to his Turkish heritage.

He highlighted on observation claiming that whenever the team lose, he is never seen equally as a German but rather an immigrant.

Ozil wrote: “In the eyes of Grindel and his supporters, I am German when we win, but I am an immigrant when we lose”.

Comparisons were also made to other later Generation Germans, including Lucas Podolski and Miroslav Klose, who are both ethnically Polish.

He hated the fact that he was distinguished differently from his country of birth, Germany and wishes to be seen equally as a German citizen.

Now only playing for Arsenal, Die Mannschaft have suffered a huge loss in midfield.

DFB deny any claims of discrimination made by the player but accept that they could have handled the situation better.