Mesut Özil misses self-criticism. But his attack on DFB President Reinhard Grindel contains a lot of truth: The German Football Association has failed in one of its most important tasks.
The dispute over the photos of footballers Ilkay Gündogan and Mesut Özil with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan shortly before the World Cup has finally become the sign of a serious crisis of the German Football Association with the resignation of Özil from the national team.
It could be easy. One could say that Özil shows no self-criticism and sees only omissions of the recent weeks with media, sponsors, fans and federation, but not with himself. One could point out that Erdogan does not operate a democratic-pluralistic politics and a photo with him, how "unpolitical" Özil also wants to have understood, is always a political statement.
That could be done. What is striking about the reporting since the so-called Erdogan is, however, the matter of course, with which many pretend that there is a clear catalog of values to which all people involved in German football have to confess? In such a canon of values, apparently, proximity to Erdogan does not fit. Because freedom of expression is suppressed in Turkey because journalists and members of the opposition are imprisoned.
What freedom of expression means
In Germany, however, thinking is not given. Here is freedom of expression. And that applies to AfD supporters as well as football players and many Erdogan fans who live here. You can and must argue with them. But one must not exclude them because of their positions from the participation in the social life. In the criticism of Özil and Gündogan swung but from the beginning, that the two athletes were denied the "German". What a presumption
Who was responsible for this situation? The players who should "finally explain"? Or the largest sports federation in the world? Mesut Özil is a selection player of the DFB. But President Reinhard Grindel, who is criticized by him, is responsible for representing the almost seven million members of German football clubs. And as such, he must also protect the national team from inappropriate criticism.
More than 30 percent of the German population under the age of 20 have a migration background. In many cities, the proportion is significantly higher. Many play football. In addition to schools, sports clubs are central places where this must happen, which is often called "integration".
The defiance reaction
By this many people understand: "The" should become like "we". But should not it be about how "the" and "we" live well together? Many seem to see it differently. Because this is exactly the logic, after some fans of Özil an "apology" for his appearance with Erdogan demanded. But why should he apologize? He has not broken any laws, and the harsh criticism seems to have rather led him to a defiance reaction.
You do not have to like Özil for performing with Erdogan, you do not have to cheer him on. You can also think that's very awkward. But compared to the arbitrary idea of how this athlete should behave, the DFB should rather devote itself to another task: it should finally fill the values with which it shines in commercials and anti-racism actions, to life.
It would have belonged to respond quickly to the nature of the criticism of Özil and Gündogan.
And proactive, with clear statements. Instead, there were some PR appearances with Grindel and Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, some confessions on plurality and values - and then nothing more. It would have been the job of the DFB, and especially its leadership, to recognize that the debate had gone beyond a PR issue - and that players should be protected.
