Germans criticize football chief over Mesut Özil fiasco

Germany’s parliament speaker has sharply criticized German Football Association (DFB) on Thursday for its mistakes that forced Turkish-German footballer Mesut Özil to quit the national team.

“I still do not understand how could the DFB allow such an unwise photo event to become a state affair. That’s a shame,” Wolfgang Schaeuble, told media group Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland.

Germany’s star player, who has Turkish origins, quitted the national team on Sunday, citing racist propaganda he faced in Germany since he met Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan two months ago.

He accused far-right politicians and media for questioning his loyalty to Germany, and using his picture with Erdoğan “as an opportunity to express their previously hidden racist tendencies".

Özil said DFB’s president Reinhard Grindel did not back him, while he was receiving hate mails, threatening phone calls, and racist comments on social media.

Germany’s Interior Minister Horst Seehofer expressed regret over the incidents and for Özil’s decision to quit the national team.

“Without doubt Özil belongs to Germany, he is one of us,” he told daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

DFP President Grindel admitted on Thursday his mistakes, but rejected accusations of discrimination and racism, and declined to resign.