The head of German Football Federation, Reinhard Grindel, says Mesut Ozil should do some explanation before the public after he returns to Germany from his vacation, apparently referring to Ozil’s meeting with Turkish president Erdogan in London last month, the statement has been considered as a threat by experts in the business for being expelled from national squad of Germany.
“It is clear that Ozil made a mistake. He should make an explanation after he returns. His future in German national team up to analysis of the coach,” said the German football boss to German Kicker magazine. Ozil along with his teammate Ilkay Gundogan met Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan in London in May after which the two Turkish-rooted players were crucified by the media, politicians and the society.
“Anyone in the business would know what Grindel has done is threatening Ozil for kicking him out of the national team,” said a long time Turkish football coach who was also brought up in Germany. “Ozil met Erdogan three more times before as many other athletes of all professions meet politicians through out the world, it is a quite normal thing,” said the Turkish coach who did not want to provide his name for the sake of not drawing himself into a politicized controversy.
As Grindel threatened Ozil, German football legend Lothar Matthaus met Russian president Vladimir Putin as part of the world cup organization in Russia. German media, however, made no fuss about the meeting as the experts citing the reason as Germany’s dependence on Russia for its energy needs. “Nonetheless, Germany hesitated to give a united reaction to Russia as part of the European block even after the Skipral incident, said the same expert.
Diaspora Daily 