Mesut Ozil Waves Goodbye to Germany

It was a disappointing World Cup for the German national team and German fans everywhere. Not a single German player performed to a high enough level and it saw them take an early exit from the tournament. Much like Arsenal fans do, the German fans singled Mesut Ozil out and blamed him for the failures of the team. Now, I am a strong believer of the fact that you win as a team and you lose as a team, so the fact he is being singled out is ridiculous in my opinion. But being singled out isn't a reason to never don the jersey again, is it? Well, for Ozil it seems to be more than enough reason and I can't say I blame him.

The 29-year-old released a statement on his social media accounts on the 22nd of July explaining his reasons. Many German politicians have openly attacked Mesut, calling him things such as "A goat-f***er", and telling him to "Piss off to Anatolia" which is allegedly a place in Turkey where many immigrants are based. These comments are quite obviously racist remarks and made by small-minded individuals. Mesut was born in Germany but has Turkish roots.

Of course it's not only politicians that are attacking Ozil; in the statement he released he revealed that a German fan told him to "F**k off you Turkish sh*t, p*ss off you Turkish pig."

Now most decent people understand that racism is not okay and should never be used to hurt someone, and as Mesut states, "should never, ever be accepted". I have been on the receiving end of racism in my life so I know how it feels, but in my situation it was a couple of kids I went to school with; in Ozil's case he has almost an entire nation abusing him.

So what next for Ozil? This could be a big year for him. Arsenal have a very good chance of winning the premier league in the coming season, and there is no doubt in my mind that he will play a pivotal part of any success Arsenal achieve this season. But whether or not he will ever return to the German national team is unclear. One thing is for sure: Football fans and human beings everywhere need to learn from this and think before they start racially abusing someone.

#saynotoracism