- The former Arsenal star has previously called for peace amid the ongoing conflict.
- A CDU politician has demanded that Ozil return his 2010 Silver Laurel Leaf award
- The head of a Jewish sports group called a 35-year-old man “anti-Israeli”
Mesut Ozil appeared to deny the existence of the state of Israel in an incendiary social media post, according to reports in Germany.
The former Arsenal star has long been an outspoken advocate for Palestine and in October called for an end to the conflict in Gaza with a post expressing his desire to “pray for humanity” and “pray for peace”.
The 35-year-old has since used his platform on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram to repeatedly draw attention to the ongoing war with a series of posts captioned with the hashtag “Free Palestine.”
But according to IMAGEOzil’s Instagram story posted on Wednesday sparked further controversy in his native Germany, before it was quickly deleted.
The former Real Madrid midfielder is believed to have shared an image of a map of Israel with a large red cross through the state’s name and the word “Palestine” underlined in bold letters.
Mesut Ozil appeared to post a now-deleted map showing the name Israel crossed out and replaced by Palestine.
The former player had already pledged his support for Palestine in Instagram and X posts.
The 35-year-old retired from football in March 2023 after playing for clubs including Arsenal.
The German outlet accused the retired footballer of calling for “the destruction of the Jewish state” in response to the deleted post, while Christian Democratic Union politician Julia Klockner demanded that the former Germany international return his “Federal Cross of Merit”, an award Ozil never received.
Klockner later clarified that he was referring to the Silver Laurel Leaf, Germany’s highest sporting honour, which was awarded to the 2010 World Cup-winning German team following victory in South Africa.
Mail Sport has contacted Ozil’s representatives for comment.
The president of Maccabi Germany, a Jewish sports association, Alon Meyer, also called Ozil’s alleged post “anti-Israel” and requested a response from the German football federation.
“We of course expect the DfB to react to this and publicly distance itself from Özil,” Meyer said in a statement on Wednesday.
As a member of the German team that won the 2010 World Cup, Ozil was awarded the Silver Laurel Leaf that year.
Ozil (right) previously sparked controversy over a tattoo that appeared to reference far-right extremist group The Grey Wolves.
Ozil, who retired from professional football in March 2023, has not represented his country internationally since 2018, citing “racism and disrespect” he faced because of his Turkish heritage.
The player had sparked outrage in his home country for a photo taken that year with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who later served as best man at Ozil’s wedding in 2019.
Ozil was accused last year of supporting the far-right Turkish nationalist organisation Grey Wolves when he displayed a tattoo of a howling wolf and three crescent moons in an image shared on social media.
Christian Social Union general secretary Martin Huber described the former player as “a clear example of failed integration” for both his alleged support for the extremist group and the “indescribable and unbelievable” pro-Palestine post on Wednesday.