In a series of statements posted Sunday on Twitter, the Arsenal star announced his retirement from international football. He attacked the German football federation, its president, fans and the media, criticizing what he saw as racism and double standards in the treatment of people with Turkish roots.
At the time, the head of Germany's soccer federation, Reinhard Grindel, accused the players — whose families came to Germany from Turkey — of allowing themselves to be “exploited” by Erdogan for political purposes. Some German politicians questioned Ozil and Gundogan's loyalty to Germany and suggested they should be removed from the national squad ahead of the World Cup.