Turkish-born German international footballer, Mesut Özil on Sunday announced his retirement from international football following the  discrimination he encountered after his meeting with  Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan in May

Ozil was a member of the German squad that were eliminated at the group stage of the recently concluded World Cup finals in Russia.

He faced heavy criticism for his performance at the Mundial and his meeting with Erdogan, who has been accused of human rights abuses and has been outspoken about German politics as well.

In a lengthy  emotion-filled statement which he released on Twitter, the Arsenal of England midfielder who has Turkish ancestry but grew up in Germany defended his right to meet Erdoğan and also attacked the leadership of the German Football Federation (DFB).

“For me, having a picture with President Erdogan wasn’t about politics or elections, it was about me respecting the highest office of my family’s country,” Özil wrote on Twitter.

“My job is a football player and not a politician, and our meeting was not an endorsement of any policies. The treatment I have received from the DFB and many others makes me no longer want to wear the German national team shirt.

“I feel unwanted and think what I have achieved since my international debut in 2009 has been forgotten,” Ozil wrote.

Making direct reference to the president of the DFB, Reinhard Grindel, Özil added: “People with racially discriminative backgrounds should not be allowed to work in the largest football federation in the world that has players from dual-heritage families

“Attitudes like theirs simply do not reflect the players they supposedly represent. In the eyes of Grindel and his supporters, I am German when we win but I am an immigrant when we lose.

“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. I feel unwanted and think that what I have achieved since my international debut in 2009 has been forgotten.

“I will no longer stand for being a scapegoat for his incompetence and inability to do his job properly. I am disappointed but not surprised by Grindel’s actions. But when high-ranking DFB officials disrespect my Turkish roots and selfishly turn me into political propaganda, then enough is enough.”

Surprisingly, the 29-year-old’s decision was attacked by the Bayern Munich president, Uli Hoeness, who responded to Ozil’s outburst by saying the player had not contributed anything meaningful to the German team since his debut.

“Ozil has been playing shit for years. He won his last tackle before the 2014 World Cup. All he is doing on the field is playing cross passes. Now he hides himself and his crap performance behind this photo.

“Whenever we played against Arsenal, we played over him, because we knew he was the weak point,” Hoeness told SportBild.

Although Özil has not responded to Hoeness’s comments, he however said he had received abuse online and claimed he was racially abused by a supporter after the match against Sweden.

“A German fan told me after the game, ‘Özil, fuck off you Turkish shit, piss off you Turkish pig.’ I don’t want to even discuss the hate mail, threatening phone calls and comments on social media that my family and I have received.

“They all represent a Germany of the past, a Germany that I am not proud of. I am confident that many proud Germans who embrace an open society would agree with me,” Ozil stressed.    

In nine years, Ozil has played 92 times for Germany, scoring 23 goals. He was also part of the side that lifted the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and also helped Germany to the semi-finals of the 2012 and 2016 European Championships.  

He also was a member of the German squad to the 2010 and 2018 World Cups and was named Germany’s national team player of the year five times.