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Friday, October 12, 2007

A follow up to this. Germany suspends Iranian-born player

Ashkan Dejagah's future as a Germany international is likely over, after the German Football Federation (DFB) decided to suspend him from all national team activity.

Iranian born Wolfsburg midfielder Ashkan Dejagah.

The Iranian-born Wolfsburg midfielder pulled out of an Under 21 match in Tel Aviv last Friday due to "personal reasons," saying he feared for the safety of relatives in Iran if he played in Israel.

It is not yet known if Dejagah's suspension is permanent or whether he will be allowed to make a return to the German national team in the future.

Israel Football Association chairman Avi Luzon met with the DFB president Theo Zwanziger on Thursday morning and was told of the decision to suspend Dejagah. "I wasn't told exactly how long he will be suspended for, only that he is suspended indefinitely. I accept any decision made by the DFB," Luzon told The Jerusalem Post. "The Germans came to Israel with a large delegation because they wanted to show the importance of this visit. The DFB president invited me to Germany and we agreed to play a friendly match between the national teams."

Zwanziger refused to comment on the matter on Thursday, but had said earlier in the week: "Any form of discrimination or anti-Semitism has no place in German football. I will first get a picture of the player's reasoning. We have to give Dejagah a chance to consider his decision again. Does he really identify with what is happening in Iran? We know what we expect from German national players."

Zwanziger, Germany Under-21 coach Dieter Eilts and DFB sports director Matthias Sammer visited Yad Vashem on Wednesday and laid a wreath to the memory of the victims of the Holocaust...

[via Dhimmi Watch]

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