-Brian Mendonça
The recent debacle concerning Mesut
Ozil makes one wonder at his principled stand. After playing many years for the
German national side Ozil decided to quit citing racism. He is just 29.
The decision seems to have done him immense good as soon after his exit he spurred Arsenal to a 5-1 win over Paris-Saint Germain in a friendly in Singapore.
The decision seems to have done him immense good as soon after his exit he spurred Arsenal to a 5-1 win over Paris-Saint Germain in a friendly in Singapore.
The recently concluded football world
cup has displayed a plethora of ethnicities. So much so when France lifted the
cup some felt the honours were rightly deserved by French-speaking African
nations who made up the side.
Ozil’s is a case in point. He must have
felt the humiliation of the discrimination he faced. It led him to observe wryly,
‘I am a German when we win, but I am an immigrant when we lose.’
It must have taken huge courage to call
the Aryan bluff. But a visit on the sidelines with the Turkish President Tayyip
Erdogan could do no harm. Celebrating
his roots in the Black Sea town of Devrek in Turkey the premier even had a
street named after him named ‘Mesut Ozil Avenue.’
In the aftermath of the picture taken
with the President, Mesut said, ‘My job is a football player and not a
politician, and our meeting was not an endorsement of any policies.’
This was Mesut’s fight. It is time for the world to recognize that
despite overtures like the one in the recent world cup to battle racism, these
actions are just like the proverbial fig leaf.
While Germany resorted to navel-gazing
following Mesut’s action, Arsenal manager Unal Emery pulled out the stops to
make him feel welcome. He put it succinctly when he said, ‘We are every
player’s family and for him to work every day, to work well with his teammates,
is good for us.’ Germany’s loss was England’s gain –via the Black Sea.
One often confronts his/her Mesut
moment. A time when you realize it’s not
worth it any longer. A time when you draw the line and stand up for who you
actually are. It’s not the money. It’s the self-respect. For the ways of the
world are fickle. Yesterday’s hero is today’s traitor. People expect others to behave in a certain
way. When they don’t, they don’t hesitate to brand them, vilify them.
Arsenal fan Josh Sippie bats for Mesut
when he says, ‘But that isn’t who he
is. The same way that we accept who he is on the pitch and concede that there
are certain things he will never be, we have to accept who he is off the pitch
and concede that there are certain things he will never be.’*
Mesut is a sensation today. He
stood for his own land, his own values.
A small nation against mighty Germany.
There may be a point that Mesut’s performance in the last football world cup has been mediocre. But it takes a lot to perform at that
level. High self-esteem should be a given.
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*paininthearsenal.com. Published in Gomantak Times Weekender, St. Inez, Goa on Sunday 5th August 2018. Pix courtesy thesportsman.com
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