Opinion: Ozil's trauma - Germany's immigration problem seeps into football

World football body FIFA may put banners against racism, which was on display in the recently concluded World Cup in Russia but the scourge of racism has come back to haunt the beautiful game once again, this time Germany's World Cup-winning star Mesut Ozil has fallen victim.

In a long letter released to the public, Ozil clarified his position on the controversial Erdogan meeting which led a huge furore in Germany when the Arsenal striker called Erdogan "my president" which was blown out of proportion by the German media. The fact that Ozil is a third generation "Turkish-German" was in many ways held against him, the lack of "true German" roots led to his ultimate humiliation and final exit from international football. A real petty.

Former German international and PR manager Oliver Bierhoff added fuel to fire by declaring that Ozil should have been left out of the World Cup squad as it distracted the players in the run-up to the World Cup. It amounted to looking for a "scapegoat" for Germany's disastrous first round exit in the World Cup.

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Bierhoff said Ozil should have been left out of the squad from a"sporting point of view" which hardly seems "sporting". The controversy brought up Ozil's ancestry and his contribution to German football.

Ozil is also a practising Muslim, a few years ago he was given the Bambi award for being an "example" of successful integration within German society. However, the strong undercurrent of racism running within German media and its football hasn't gone unnoticed.

There have been several incidents of racism reported in the German football arena with chants of Nazi "Sieg Heil" to name calling which has tarnished several matches across stadiums in Germany. The "foreigner" tag struck with Ozil as well in the end.

The fact that Ozil found no support in Germany, even among his teammates who preferred the great "German silence" led the star midfielder to call it a day, albeit prematurely.

In his final statement, Ozil said "clearly I am not German", adding, "I am German when we win but immigrant when we lose."

The star footballer even questioned his own Muslim identity in multicultural Germany. He finally quit over "racism" and more importantly "disrespect". Ozil said he no longer wears the German team shirt with "pride" - a sad commentary on the state of football and Merkel's Germany which has been plagued by the immigrant problem ever since she won the elections.

Racism should never, ever be accepted, Ozil concluded, hope FIFA and Germany are listening.

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)