Iran-born German soccer player refuses to play his match in the apartheid state, now thats a modern day hero.
Ashkan Dejagah, an Iranian-born player in Germany's under-21 national football team, has withdrawn from an upcoming match against Israel citing "personal reasons", according to the German Football Association (DFB).
Dejagah, 21, who plays for VfB Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga, asked national team managers to allow him to withdraw from Germany's European Championship qualifier against Israel, which is scheduled to be played in Tel Aviv on Friday, the DFB said.
Dejagah, 21, who plays for VfB Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga, asked national team managers to allow him to withdraw from Germany's European Championship qualifier against Israel, which is scheduled to be played in Tel Aviv on Friday, the DFB said.
1 comment:
I was right:
"'If I Came To Israel, I Would Be Jailed'"
In interview, German-Iranian soccer player who boycotted his team's game against Israel, speaks of his fears of coming to Israel; 'I am sorry if I hurt anybody, I am a man of peace'
10.15.07
Ashkan Dejagah, the Iranian-born German soccer player who refused to travel to Israel to play in a qualification match for the European under-21 championship, revealed his thoughts about Iran, Israel and soccer in a recent interview in Germany.
"I was surprised by the wave of criticism surrounding my decision, I never thought that my story would become so dramatic," Dejagah told the German magazine Stern.
"I didn’t want all of this. I regret the misunderstanding and I apologize to anybody that I hurt. This incident has turned me into a sad person. I don't have a problem with anybody in the world," the soccer player continued.
The fear that the young athlete felt in coming to Israel can be summed up in the following quote: "Nobody knows what they do to Iranians in Israel. According to laws in Tehran, they would have thrown me in Iranian jail. The risk was too great."
When Dejagah was asked if he was pressured not to go to Israel by his family, he responded: "No. Naturally I discussed the issue with my parents, my brother, but at the end of the day, I decided not to take the chance and I immediately called my coach to inform him," Dejagah explained.
When asked of his opinion on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, the soccer player said: "We're not ardent supports of the Iranian state; I don't want to elaborate on this because I need to concentrate on soccer."
The Iranian press dubbed Ashkan Dejagah a 'national hero' but the young athlete only learned of the 'compliment' through the German press because he does not read Farsi.
Faking injury
Stern's interviewer reminded Dejagah that he was not the first Iranian to have doubts about playing in Israel. In 2004, Bayern Munich was scheduled to play a match against Maccabi Tel Aviv in Ramat Gan and Bayern's Wahid Hashmian, an Iranian national, informed his coach that he could not play due to a back injury. He was widely suspected of faking the injury to get out of traveling to Israel to play in the match.
Dejagah said that he himself couldn't have faked an injury - "That's not me."
"I paid a price for my honesty, I want to continue to wear the German uniform and win the championship with it on," Dejagah concluded.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3459989,00.html
Post a Comment