Germany suspended Iranian-born soccer player Ashkan Dejagah from Germany's national team after he refused to play in a match against Israel at a European Championship qualifying match in Tel Aviv for `political reasons'.
The suspension was announced by none other than Theo Zwanziger, the president of the German Football Association (DFB):
"The principle stance held my myself and the Association is clear: We shall not allow a player on the national team to refuse to play in a game due to political reasons.
"Sports and football have always built bridges in the past. This holds true in everything pertaining to Israel and the relationship between Germany and Israel."
Give the Germans credit for being willing to stand on principle. As for Ashkan, he's reportedly considering returning to Iran to play on a team there.
Sounds like a win-win to me....
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