Germany midfielder Toni Kroos has denied any racism
within the national team or the national football federation in
response to claims by Mesut Oezil.
Oezil's reference to racism in his statement on quitting the national
team was "nonsense," Kroos said in an interview with Bild newspaper
published on Thursday.
"I think that he himself knows that racism does not exist within the
national team and the DFB (German football federation)," Kroos said.
"On the contrary, we are always committed to diversity and
integration. Mesut was a good example of this, as are many of our
fellow players."
Oezil, 29, has retired from the German national team over the fallout
from controversial pictures taken with Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan before the World Cup.
In a statement, the Arsenal midfielder said he would no longer play
for Germany while "I have this feeling of racism and disrespect."
Oezil was criticised for not responding about the meeting amid a
public debate on integration in Germany, but the player said he would
not be made a scapegoat for Germany's poor World Cup showing.
Kroos said it "would be embarrassing" for the national team to use
the public debate which raged during the World Cup as an excuse for
the national team's performance.
Oezil is also "a nice guy" who "deserved a better finish" but the way
he framed his international retirement "not right," Kroos said.
The parts of his statement which rightly addressed issues were
"unfortunately overshadowed by the much higher proportion of
nonsense," Kroos said in reference to the mention of racism.