NEW DELHI – Mesut Ozil, who announced international retirementlinkfacing ‘racism and disrespect’ because of his Turkish roots, has foundsupport from tennis player Sania Mirza.
Ozil was heavily criticised after he, along with his teammate, IlkayGundogan, who has Turkish ancestry, posed for a photograph with Erdogan ata charitable event in May.
Sania Mirza extended her support to Ozil on social media.
“This is the saddest thing to read as a an athlete, and more importantly asa human being.. you are right bout one thing @MesutOzil1088 racism shouldnot and will not be accepted under any circumstance.. sad if all this istrue..,” she wrote on the Twitter on Monday.
Ozil, 29, was a key member of Germany’s World Cup-winning side in 2014 andhas been voted by fans as the team’s player of the year five times since2011. But, with Germany exiting FIFA World Cup 2018 in the group stages,the midfielder was criticised for his performance and his loyalty to thenational team was questioned due to the photograph in question.
“In the eyes of Grindel and his supporters I am German when we win, but Iam an immigrant when we lose,” Ozil wrote in a lengthy statement in Englishposted on his Twitter account.