Racial scandal : Petition calls on international sponsors to drop DFB after Özil controversy

An online petition has called on several sponsors of the German Football Association (DFB) to withdraw their support, following the fallout surrounding Mesut Özil’s international retirement earlier this week.

The Arsenal attacker cited “racism and disrepect” within the DFB as his reason for stepping down from the national side, where he claimed he was scapegoated for Germany’s disappointing World Cup campaign, while his Turkish heritage has also been used as a weapon against him in the German media.

Contained in one of several lengthy Twitter posts, that Özil tweeted to inform the media of his intention to retire, the German said:

“I am German when we win, but I am an immigrant when we lose.”

Now international consumer group SumOfUs have called on several high-profile sponsors to sever ties, until the executives behind Özil’s demonisation are sacked. These sponsors include Adidas, McDonald’s and Mercedes-Benz.

SumOfUs’ mission statement is ‘to hold big corporations accountable’, and campaigner Christian Bock has called on German football to end it’s ‘shameful racism.’ Bock said:

“The resignation of footballer Mesut Özil has exposed the shameful racism within German football culture — and instead of protecting their player, top executives of the German Football Association put all the blame for Germany’s bad performance on Özil.”

“While this year’s World Cup was a triumph for diversity, the racist and xenophobic treatment of German player Mesut Özil still managed to rear its ugly head.”

“After Germany’s early exit from the World Cup, fans and German politicians alike scapegoated Özil, a third-generation Turkish-German, for the team’s loss. A controversial photo Özil took with Turkish president Erdogan in May was used as an excuse to pile on more prejudice and Islamophobic insults.”

“In this case, officials from the German Football Association didn’t just fail to defend Özil — they actively supported his detractors, ultimately leading Özil to resign from the German team.”

The petition is nearing 2,000 signatures. - Read Sport