Goal.com · Aug 19, 2018
Ozil using racism as a distraction, claims Hoeness
Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness has accused Mesut Ozil of using racism as a distraction from his poor performances in the wake of his retirement from Germany.
Ozil has continued to be criticised in his homeland since he announced an end to his international career after the 2018 World Cup.
Before the tournament, Ozil and team-mate Ilkay Gundogan created a huge controversy when they held a meeting and posed in a photo with Turkey president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Ozil's underwhelming performances and Germany's group stage elimination from the competition in Russia saw the controversy spill over, with some claiming the reaction to the Erdogan picture had affected the team.