tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8925804808443413503.post7772589122814709030..comments2024-03-17T02:14:50.160-07:00Comments on Anti-"Israel": Iran-born German out of "Israel" GameUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8925804808443413503.post-40012924549905141282007-10-15T10:25:00.000-07:002007-10-15T10:25:00.000-07:00I was right:"'If I Came To Israel, I Would Be Jail...I was right:<BR/><BR/><B>"'If I Came To Israel, I Would Be Jailed'" <BR/><BR/>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'</B> <BR/>10.15.07<BR/><BR/>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. <BR/> <BR/>"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. <BR/> <BR/>"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. <BR/> <BR/>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." <BR/> <BR/>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. <BR/><BR/>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." <BR/> <BR/>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. <BR/> <BR/><B>Faking injury</B><BR/><BR/>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. <BR/> <BR/>Dejagah said that he himself couldn't have faked an injury - "That's not me." <BR/> <BR/>"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.<BR/><BR/>http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3459989,00.htmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com