‘Ozil’s treatment crossed the line of racism’

Mesut Ozil came under fire for his performances at the World Cup in Russia, where the defending champions crashed out in the group stage, as the 29-year-old quit international soccer last month over "racism and disrespect" due to his Turkish roots.

Ozil’s Germany teammate Ilkay Gunogan, who is also of Turkish descent, said that the treatment of Ozil did cross the line of racism while underlining that people in Germany were not racists.

Ozil and Gundogan, who posed with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, were subjected to jeers from German fans in warm-up games before the World Cup.

"Was the affair racially motivated? You're telling me! Is it not racism when a German politician writes on Facebook: 'The German national football team: 25 Germans and two goat *******?'" the Manchester City player told Funke Sport.

"That's something you have to call racism. Nevertheless, that does not mean that all people in Germany are racists - not at all. Almost all my life I have had good experiences in Germany. I want to say that very clearly here. But there are people who have politically used the resulting photo for themselves. And in this context, the line to racism was partially crossed."

Gundogan reiterated that Germany were a team when they won the World Cup in 2014 but following a disastrous World Cup, people have been calling the team ‘fractured’.

“At the 2014 World Cup, it was 'Die Mannschaft' everywhere with 23 very best buddies and now, after a disappointing 2018 World Cup, there is talk of fractured groupings, though they were largely the same players and characters. This is now exaggerated from the outside!”

Gundogan did not immediately let his feelings be known following Ozil’s decision to resign and but now feels that he would have done things differently from Ozil.

“Mesut has also done a lot for me personally. He was one of the reasons why I wanted to play for Germany.

"He has paved the way for me. So I would have wished that he would get a better, deserved goodbye. However, one has to say that it was Mesut's decision to go that way - with all the consequences. I would have done it differently - because I'm different from the personality.

"At the time I wanted to comment on the topic immediately and not let it sit on me. That's why my idea was to seek an exchange with our Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier."