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#2 Poor portrayal by the German media
In today's world where increased technology means the world is now a global village, the media has become an extremely powerful tool in shaping public opinion about everything, ranging from politicians, celebrities to global issues.
Footballers are not left out, as worldwide interest in the game means that fans follow up daily for news updates about their favourite clubs and players. The internet's global reach enables fans from all over the world to have access to such information provided. So the media and journalists have a huge control over the public perceptions of players.
The media in Germany have played a central role in promoting the view of Ozil being uncommitted and it was an issue which the midfielder addressed in the second part of his statement, saying:
''If a newspaper or pundit finds fault in a game I play in, then I can accept this- I'm not a perfect footballer and this motivates me to work and train harder. But what I can't accept is the German media outlets repeatedly blaming my dual-heritage and a simple picture for a bad World Cup on behalf of an entire squad.''
The German media's crucifixion of Ozil after the World Cup is unacceptable and disappointing for all he has contributed to the German national team cause.
There has also been an appalling target of Ozil's Turkish ancestry to stir German fans' resentment against him. A German newspaper in the fallout of the World Cup did not criticize Ozil's performance or the team's performance, but used Ozil's picture with Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as their headline, before going on to disrespect Ozil's ancestry by suggesting it was the cause for Germany's elimination. This was not only unfounded but also highly unprofessional.
Ozil's meeting with Erdogan was out of respect to his Turkish ancestry and not with any political undertone as he explained in his statement and the outrage and criticisms stemming from the picture are as a result of his origins as pointed out by Ozil due to the double standards are shown, as Lothar Matthaus also met with some controversial world leaders a few days ago but didn't receive any criticism from the media.
Sponsors pulled out of their engagements to Ozil and promotional charities were cancelled owing to these companies' fears of a media backlash and it is a huge shame as Ozil is an extremely charitable footballer, supporting numerous benevolent causes, including donating all his 2014 World Cup winnings (about £240,0000) for 23 sick Brazilian children to have surgery and visiting a refugee camp in Jordan housing over 80,000 people displaced by the Syrian war. Yet none of his charitable causes get German media attention, with the press instead choosing to focus on his picture with Erdogan and him being booed by German fans which is a shame to journalistic integrity.
