11 October 2007
An Iranian-born German soccer player is refusing to take part in a match of Germany’s Under-21 selection against Israel. The German football federation DFB has announced that Ashkan Dejagah, had withdrawn from a European Championship qualifier against Israel. That game is to be held in Tel Aviv on Friday. Dejagah, who was born in Tehran and holds dual German-Iranian citizenship, had initially said in interviews that his decision was "political" but later claimed he had “family reasons” for not travelling to Israel. He indicated that he was mainly concerned about repercussions should he try to travel to Iran in the future. German pundits and politicians, as well as the local Jewish community, have called for punitive action against Dejagah.
Although Germany's U21 coach Dieter Eilts accepted Dejagah's choice to opt out of Friday's match, DFB president Theo Zwanziger initially criticized the 20-year-old, telling German media over the weekend, "If we start doing things for political reasons, it will be sport itself which loses." But Zwanziger made a dramatic turnaround on Monday when the DFB released a statement saying the president had agreed that Dejagah did not have to play. The statement said Zwanziger "respected the decision of the coach ... that the player stated reasons which are in the private sector." Dejagah has considered playing for Iran rather than Germany at the international level. The Iranian state news agency IRNA reported that Dejagah's father, Muhammad, said in a recent interview in Berlin that his son "has yet to decide if he wants to play for the national football team of his native country Iran or Germany." Politicians and the Central Council of Jews in Germany strongly criticized the player’s decision.
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