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Football

24th Mar 2022

Mesut Ozil ‘suspended indefinitely’ from Fenerbahce squad

Daniel Brown

He was reportedly involved in an altercation with the interim boss

Mesut Özil has been suspended with immediate effect by Fenerbahce, with the Turkish club sanctioning the former Arsenal man along with Turkish international Ozan Tufan.

Fenerbahce released a statement announcing that the 33-year-old had been suspended, which read: “Our Football A Team players Mesut Özil and Ozan Tufan have been excluded from the squad as per the decision taken. It is announced to the public.”

Mesut Ozil suspended

Özil involved in verbal altercation with interim manager

As reported by football.london, Özil has been suspended due to a verbal altercation with the club’s interim manager.

The report adds that the altercation with interim manager Ismail Kartal occurred during the team’s 2-1 home win against second-placed Konyaspor, when the midfielder was substituted at half-time.< It is also said that Özil and Tufan will not be allowed to train with the first-team ahead of their away fixture against Kayserispor this weekend. https://twitter.com/Fenerbahce/status/1506966237401780232?t=T1VxHKijlxtZIcTKpYYGfQ&s=19 The Süper Lig outfit were recently forced to deny that the former German international had effectively gone on strike due to a row over unpaid wages. This came after Turkish broadcaster Volkan Demir suggested that his recent absences, which were supposedly due to a back injury, were actually due to a dispute over his salary.

Fenerbahce deny rumours about Özil absense

However, Fenerbahce – who are reportedly more than £300million in debt – fired back at the claim, saying: “The news that Mesut Ozil did not play because his debts from the club were not paid have nothing to do with the facts.

“As we have often experienced, this kind of fake news that is created completely haphazardly without being confirmed by any official from our club is beyond our tolerance limit.

“Despite the heavy economic conditions at Fenerbahce, payments have been made on time until now. We invite Volkan Demir, who voiced this news, to correct his comment and apologise. Otherwise, we would like to point out that our club will not be able to take part in any organisation or facility it hosts.”

Mesut Ozil suspended

Özil, who joined Fenerbahce last January, has endured a somewhat difficult time in Turkey, registering just one assist in 10 Super Lig matches in his first half-season with the club.

However, he has showed signs of improvement this campaign – scoring nine times and registering two assists.