August 20 – German Football Association (DFB) chief Reinhard Grindel (pictured) has again admitted that he could have dealt better with the Mezut Ozil affair after the midfielder quit the national team and announced his retirement from international football on racism grounds.
Ozil cited “racism and disrespect” over his Turkish roots after having his photograph taken with Turkey’s authoritarian President Tayyip Erdogan in May, saying he did not get enough support from the DFB administration.
The DFB have rejected any suggestion of discrimination but in an interview with ‘Bild am Sonntag’, Grindel admitted mistakes were made.
“I should have positioned myself more clearly, such attacks are completely unacceptable, I’m sorry that he was let down,” said Grindel.
But at the same time, however, Grindel emphatically rejected Özil’s allegations that he had been blamed him for Germany’s early exit at the World Cup. That was “not right”, said Grindel, adding that “at no time” was Ozil’s performances cited by the DFB as a reason for Germany’s failure.
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