{"id":292991,"date":"2023-09-18T17:24:57","date_gmt":"2023-09-18T17:24:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?p=292991"},"modified":"2023-09-18T17:24:57","modified_gmt":"2023-09-18T17:24:57","slug":"mesut-ozil-in-line-to-become-turkish-national-team-general-manager","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/mesut-ozil-in-line-to-become-turkish-national-team-general-manager\/","title":{"rendered":"Mesut Ozil &apos;in line to become Turkish national team general manager&apos;"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Ex-Arsenal star Mesut Ozil is &#8216;in contention to become Turkish national team general manager&#8217; just six months after retirement&#8230; with\u00a0Joachim Low &#8216;a candidate to take over as head coach&#8217;<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Turkey are reportedly considering sacking Stefan Kuntz and Hamit Altintop\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The nation could turn to ex-Germany head coach Joachim Low and Mesut Ozil\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport&#8217;s podcast &#8216;It&#8217;s All Kicking Off&#8217;<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Former Arsenal and Real Madrid star Mesut Ozil is reportedly in line to become the new general manager of the Turkish national team.<\/p>\n<p>Reports have claimed the\u00a0Turkish Football Federation are preparing to sack their head coach Stefan Kuntz and general manager Hamit Altintop.<\/p>\n<p>The organisation has denied that Kuntz has been sacked, but confirmed in a statement that the German will attend a meeting on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>Kuntz will meet with TFF president\u00a0Mehmet Buyukeksi at the national team training base.<\/p>\n<p>Turkey are currently second in their Euro 2024 qualifying group and are assured of a play-off spot, but suffered a 4-2 defeat against Japan in a friendly during the international break.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/18\/16\/75561459-12532007-image-a-46_1695052483316.jpg\" height=\"442\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Mesut Ozil is reportedly in line to become general manager of the Turkish national team<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/18\/16\/75562251-12532007-image-a-48_1695052566899.jpg\" height=\"461\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Turkey have denied Stefan Kuntz has been sacked as their head coach despite losing to Japan<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/18\/16\/75562233-12532007-image-a-49_1695052629610.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Reports have claimed Ozil could succeed\u00a0Hamit Altintop as Turkey&#8217;s general manager<\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>Kuntz has also reportedly fallen out with influential midfielder Hakan Calhanoglou.<\/p>\n<p>According to German newspaper Bild,\u00a0Altintop&#8217;s future as general manager is also under threat, with the Turkey legend key to the appointment of Kuntz.<\/p>\n<p>Ex-Germany boss Joachim Low is viewed as a possible contender to succeed Kuntz, with Ozil\u00a0reportedly lined up to replace Altintop.<\/p>\n<p>Ozil had played under Low for the duration of his international career for Germany, scoring 23 goals in 92 matches for the nation between 2009 to 2018.<\/p>\n<p>The midfielder had been a key player in Low\u2019s World Cup winning team in 2014.<\/p>\n<p>Ozil announced his retirement from international football after the 2018 FIFA World Cup after being subjected to &#8216;racism and disrespect&#8217;.<\/p>\n<p>The midfielder and\u00a0team-mate Ilkay Gundogan, both of Turkish descent, had sparked outrage in Germany after being pictured with\u00a0Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the eve of the 2018 World Cup.<\/p>\n<p>Germany then crashed out in the first round in Russia, with Ozil becoming a scapegoat for the defending champions&#8217; woeful under performance.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/18\/17\/75562373-12532007-image-a-52_1695052818843.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Ozil would reportedly become general manager should\u00a0Joachim Low take over as head coach<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/18\/16\/75561453-12532007-image-a-50_1695052677871.jpg\" height=\"438\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Ozil, who is of Turkish descent, previously posed with president\u00a0Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2018<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/09\/18\/16\/33711650-12532007-Erdogan_was_Ozil_s_best_man_at_his_wedding_over_the_Bosphorus_in-a-51_1695052708445.jpg\" height=\"420\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Erdogan was Ozil&#8217;s best man at his wedding over the Bosphorus in Istanbul back in 2019<\/p>\n<p>Ozil came under heavy criticism for his picture with Erdogan, who has been described as a modern-day dictator by his harshest critics and his three-day London visit in 2018 was met with protests from a number of human-rights groups.<\/p>\n<p>He said in a lengthy statement when he announced his retirement: &#8216;It is with a heavy heart and after much consideration that because of recent events, I will no longer be playing for Germany at international level whilst I have this feeling of racism and disrespect.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I used to wear the German shirt with such pride and excitement but now I don&#8217;t. This decision has been extremely difficult to make because I have always given everything for my team-mates, the coaching staff and the good people of Germany.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;But when high-ranking DFB officials treat me as they did, disrespect my Turkish roots and selfishly turn me into political propaganda, then enough is enough. That is not why I play football, and I will not sit back and do nothing about it. Racism should never, ever be accepted.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>Ozil previously defended his decision to meet with the president and have a picture taken as he presented him with a signed Arsenal shirt. A year later Erdogan was best man at Ozil&#8217;s wedding to wife Amine Gulse.<\/p>\n<p>Should Ozil become succeed Altintop as\u00a0general manager, it would mark a quick return to football for the midfield.<\/p>\n<p>He announced his retirement from football in March with immediate effect, after struggling with injuries during a spell at\u00a0Turkish top flight side Istanbul Basaksehir.<\/p>\n<p>Ozil had joined the club from\u00a0Fenerbahce after his Arsenal contract was terminated in 2021.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3>IT&#8217;S ALL KICKING OFF!\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p><span><span>It&#8217;s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span><span>It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2017\/08\/02\/636x90_facebook_ad_sport.png\" width=\"636\" height=\"90\"><br \/>\nSource: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-12532007\/Arsenal-Mesut-Ozil-Turkey-national-team-Joachim-Low.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ex-Arsenal star Mesut Ozil is &#8216;in contention to become Turkish national team general manager&#8217; just six months after retirement&#8230; with\u00a0Joachim <span class=\"more-text\">&hellip;<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":292990,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Mesut Ozil &amp;apos;in line to become Turkish national team general manager&amp;apos; - Sportstons<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/mesut-ozil-in-line-to-become-turkish-national-team-general-manager\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mesut Ozil &amp;apos;in line to become Turkish national team general manager&amp;apos; 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