Ashkan Dejagah withdraws from Israel match

By Catherine Bosley

BERLIN, Oct 8 (Reuters) – An Iranian-born player in Germany's under-21 national soccer team has withdrawn from an upcoming match against Israel citing "personal reasons", the German Football Association (DFB) said on Monday.

Ashkan Dejagah, 21, who plays for Bundesliga club VfB Wolfsburg, asked national team managers to allow him to withdraw from Germany's European Championship qualifier against Israel, to be played in Tel Aviv on Friday, the DFB said.

"He came to us citing personal reasons that seemed very plausible," DFB spokesman Jens Grittner said.

Dejagah could not be reached for comment, but tabloid daily Bild quoted him as saying his motive was political.

"It has political reasons. Everyone knows that I am German-Iranian," he said of the decision to withdraw.

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran has refused to recognize Israel's right to exist and Iranian citizens are forbidden from travelling to Israel.

Dejagah was born in Tehran, but later moved with his parents to Germany. He holds a German passport.

Dejagah's withdrawal has stirred controversy in Germany, which sets great store by good relations with Israel after some six million Jews died during the Holocaust.

Bild, Germany's biggest-selling newspaper, called for Dejagah's exclusion from the national team.

This call was backed by Friedbert Pflueger, a leading member of the Berlin branch of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats (CDU).

In 2004, Iranian striker Vahid Hashemian was pulled from Bayern Munich's roster for a Champions League game against Israeli team Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Although Bayern cited a back injury as the reason for Hashemian's withdrawal, the potential visit proved controversial and Iran's national sporting body opposed it.

9 Responses to “Ashkan Dejagah withdraws from Israel match”

1. Ramin Says:
   October 9th, 2007 at 3:23 am

   As an Iranian, who is living in Germany, I totally back Ashkans decision. Why should he play against a country that wants to nuke Iran?

   It was the Germans that killed 6million Jews (in a war where over 50 million lives were lost), and not the Persians, so why should Ashkan have a guilty conscience towards Israel??!?!

   Besides its not like the Israelis arent killing Palestinians and taking their land!

   I SUPPORT U ASHKAN!

   ZENDEBAD IRAN!

2. Wael Says:
   October 9th, 2007 at 6:24 am

   he is doing good example to put pressure on the apartheid Israel.
   Why not ?? :

   1. Israel is a expansionist state and an illegally occupying power,

   2. Israel has disregarded all the UN resolutions except the first one
   which allowed it to exist on only 22% of what it has now.

   3. Israel is a racist state practising apartheid as an integral part of its
   constitution.

   4. Israel is inhabited by imported-impostors exclusively, who claim to be
   what they are surely not.

   5. Israel is an artificial state-nation falsely claiming a
   historical-mystical -legitimacy

   6.Israel has , since its foundation , done nothing but military aggressions towards its neighbours and discrimination and oppression to the population it occupies.

   7.Israel is the first recipient of International- aid and it receives alone
   more than the rest of the whole world all together…. .
   while being the fifth exporter of weapons, worldwide
   and the first trader in Diamonds and the first trader in Pornography.

   8.Because Israel is the biggest reason for Anti-Semitism ,nowadays.

   9. Because Israel is a compensation for the Holocaust , when the Palestinians
   have had nothing to do with it…..and yet the Palestinians are paying for it.
   For each Israeli-citizen there is one Palestinian- refugee, being punished.

3. No Name Says:
   October 9th, 2007 at 7:48 am

   He should be kicked off the team ASAP. There is no place for politics or racism on the football field. He is either a German player playing for Germany or he should go back to Iran and live life there. GO LIVE IN IRAN if you don’t respect and support your adopted country.

4. Anonymous Says:
   October 9th, 2007 at 9:24 am

   In response to #3. You gotta realize that he has to deal with a fenatic faschist regime that would have potentially affected him or his family personally. He lives in a relatively democratic country but is rooted in a non-democratic one. It has certainly beeen a difficult choice, but one that makes sense not as a racist or political choice, but one that balances out with the least potential problem. Trust me if it is a matter of life, being kicked out of a team is no big deal. So calm down!

5. admin Says:
   October 9th, 2007 at 11:27 am

   Guys, thanks for sharing your opinions. I would like to add my 2 cents.

   I think there is a much simpler reason for all of this. Dejagah’s parents are from Iran, and he was born there himself. I bet he has a large number of relatives still living in Iran and his family regularly travel to Iran for visits.

   In the last few years Dejagah has become a well know figure in Iranian sports.

   I think his parents/family got worried about the potential ramifications of his trip to Israel as far as their status is concerned, and that forced his decision.

   Perhaps he should have taken the injury approach that Hashemian and Karimi took while they played in Germany.

   Anyway, since I do not want this blog to become a political forum, I will keep this post open for comments fro another day and then will close it.

   Thanks again everyone.

6. behrad Says:
   October 9th, 2007 at 2:18 pm

   I agree with what the admin posted. His decision nay be influenced by family-related concern as well as his potential prospect (if he choose to) to join thRight or e Iranian national team in the future. Whether yo agree with his decision, this is his personal choice and should be respected as such.

7. Persian Says:
   October 9th, 2007 at 3:24 pm

   To comment #3,

   Just last week the Zionist regime did not allow Palestinian football players leave Gaza to join their national team, (http://www.fightbacknews.org/2007/10/lsrpalfootball.htm). Was that not political?

   I had never heard of Ashkan Dejagah, but now I have and have a lot of respect for him. To play for German football team is a dream for millions of football loving youth and is no trivial matter. To make a decision not to join the team on this trip is very brave, and much more so if he has done it individually out of sympathy with the Palestinian youth who do not get the opportunity to live life like their counterparts outside the Zionist built walls.

8. Brian Says:
   October 9th, 2007 at 5:29 pm

   I am sad to see that he has received such harsh criticism in Germany. It seems that Germany is overcompensating for its past by paranoia and kneejerk political correctness. To say there is no room for politics in soccer is not very enlightened. A soccer player and his family are not mystically removed from life and the ramifications of choices. I may or may not agree with his choices, but it seems to me he made a well considered, and brave decision. One must always think of their family first. If you don’t have your blood then what do you have? How many Germans would go to a foreign country if the country their family resided in was threatening negative consequences against their family. To expect other countries to operate the same way shows western hubrus. Have some understanding!

9. arnique Says:
   October 10th, 2007 at 3:45 am

   In response to Commenter no 3: “There is no place for politics or racism on the football field.”

   Exactly. Don’t you think the German Council of Jews is using politics and alleged racism to affect the performance of a football team (I hear Dejagah is quite vital to the under-21s)? By dropping Dejagah from the team due to media or non-sectarian pressure, football no longer becomes unbiased or enjoyable. The German FA would be stupid to bow to Knorblach’s demands.

   As far as I know, Dejagah has never said anything derogatory about Israel or Jews. In fact, if some hack didn’t pick the story up, he and the German youth team would have just quietly managed until the next game.

   I don’t understand what people want from him! Do they want him to go and play in Israel, which may earn him and his family acts of violence or alienation from Iranian society?

   Yes, Dejagah is now a German national. But isn’t Germany a country that supports freedom of expression and that right to security and safety? Is Dejagah actually hurting people by withdrawing from the national team? No.

   Leave the hacks and PC quacks to their bollocks, and keep the football beautiful.

   Kicking Dejagah off the German team would be very ugly indeed.