Germany star Mesut Ozil has confirmed his retirement from international football with immediate effect following the “treatment he received from the DFB.”.
The performance put by Ozil in the World Cup was heavily criticised after his side exit in the group stages. He and his teammate Ilkay Gundogan was previously criticised following his May meeting with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The Arsenal midfielder posted three open letters to social media on Sunday, concluding his resignation from international football.
In the first part of letter, he explained his meeting with Erdogan “had no political intentions”.
The past couple of weeks have given me time to reflect, and time to think over the events of the last few months. Consequently, I want to share my thoughts and feelings about what has happened. pic.twitter.com/WpWrlHxx74
— Mesut Özil (@MesutOzil1088) July 22, 2018
In the second part of a three open letters, Ozil hit out the German media for blaming the picture and his dual-heritage as a factor in Germany’s group-stage exit at Russia 2018.
II / III pic.twitter.com/Jwqv76jkmd
— Mesut Özil (@MesutOzil1088) July 22, 2018
And in the concluding section, he announced his retirement from international football with immediate effect.
He wrote: “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.
“This decision has been extremely difficult to make because I have always given everything for my team-mates, the coaching staff and the good people of Germany.
“But when high-ranking DFB officials treat me as they did, disrespect my Turkish roots and selfishly turn me into political propaganda, then enough is enough.
“That is now why I play football, and I will not sit back and do nothing about it.
“Racism should never, ever be accepted.”
III / III pic.twitter.com/c8aTzYOhWU
— Mesut Özil (@MesutOzil1088) July 22, 2018
