Fans watching the Germany vs Spain Group E FIFA World Cup 2022 game at the Al Bayt Stadium on Sunday held Mesut Ozil’s photos and covered their mouths. The mid-fielder, who plays for Süper Lig club İstanbul Başakşehir, called off his national career citing ‘racism and disrespect’. 

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German players, ahead of their FIFA World Cup 2022 opener vs Japan, covered their mouths during their team photo in order to protest against their captain, Manuel Neuer being denied permission to wear the ‘OneLove’ armband. 

Fans at Al Bayt took a dig at the German team by covering their mouths, highlighting the racism allegations by Ozil. 

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Mesut Ozil is a 34-year-old footballer who represented Germany from 2009-18 while also featuring and playing a crucial role in Germany’s World Cup triumph in 2014 in Brazil. When Ozil and Ilkay Gundogan ( both players are of Turkish descent) met and had photos with Turkish president Recep Sayyip Erdogan, their national loyalties were questioned by a section of the media and public.

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While the German federation refused to add steam to the controversy, the rumours resurfaced after Germany’s exit from the World Cup. Soon after, he spoke of differences with DFB president Reinhard Grindel and retired from the national team, in protest of “racially discriminative backgrounds” of the federation.

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Meanwhile, Ozil’s countrymen had to dig deep to salvage a draw against group leaders Spain and remain in contention, despite being the group tail enders at 1 point after 2 games. Spain lead the group with four points (a win and a draw) while Japan and Costa Rica are at the 2nd and 3rd respectively with a win and a loss. Germany needs to win at all costs against Costa Rica to keep their qualification chances alive.