10/23/2007

BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany's soccer federation (DFB) said on Tuesday it was planning history lessons for young German internationals after an Iran-born player on the under-21 team caused controversy by withdrawing from a match against Israel.

"We must have an intellectual discussion with every boy and girl who comes to us … about what Germany is," the Berliner Morgenpost daily quoted DFB President Theo Zwanziger as saying.

DFB sporting director Matthias Sammer and senior team manager Oliver Bierhoff were preparing an educational programme, Zwanziger said, adding that an examination of Germany's past was necessary for youngsters with immigrant backgrounds.

DFB spokesman Harald Stenger confirmed the plan.

The DFB's move comes after Ashkan Dejagah, an Iran-born German under-21 international, withdrew from a European Championship qualifier against Israel for "personal reasons".

Dejagah, who plays for Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg, was born in Tehran and holds both German and Iranian passports.

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

Dejagah's withdrawal stirred controversy after mass-selling daily Bild earlier this month quoted the player as saying his decision not to play was politically motivated.

Good relations with Israel are a top priority in Germany because of the Holocaust, in which some 6 million Jews were murdered by the Nazis.

Germany's top Jewish organisation and some politicians demanded the player be excluded from the national soccer team.

Last week Zwanziger said Dejagah had requested not to play in the Israel match out of concern for family members still in Iran and that he would retain his place on the national team.