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Twitter reacts to Mesut Ozil's retirement from international football.

Yesterday, Mesut Ozil announced that he will no longer play for the German national side citing the disrespect he’s faced because of his Turkish roots. The 29 year-old who is touted as one of the greatest midfielders of his generation, made the announcement  on his Twitter page. The former Real Madrid player said he felt singled out for the failure of his team to advance beyond the group stage at the just concluded  2018 World Cup.
Read his full statement below:
The past couple of weeks have given me time to reflect, and time to think over the events of the last few months. Consequently, I want to share my thoughts and feelings about what has happened.
Like many people, my ancestry traces back to more than one country. Whilst I grew up in Germany, my family background has its roots firmly based in Turkey. I have two hearts, one German and one Turkish. During my childhood, my mother taught me to always be respectful and to never forget where I came from, and these are still values that I think about to this day.
In May, I met President Erdogan in London, during a charitable and educational event. We first met in 2010 after he and Angela Merkel watched the Germany vs. Turkey match together in Berlin.
Since then, our paths have crossed a lot of times around the globe. I’m aware that the picture of us caused a huge response in the German media, and whilst some people may accuse me of lying or being deceitful, the picture we took had no political intentions. As I said, my mother has never let me lose sight of my ancestry, heritage and family traditions. For me, having a picture with Presi­dent Erdogan wasn’t about politics or elections, it was about me respecting the highest office of my family’s country. My job is a football player and not a politician, and our meeting was not an endorsement of any policies. In fact, we spoke about the same topic that we do every time we have met – football – as he too was a player in his youth.
Although the German media have portrayed something different, the truth is that not meeting with the President would have been disrespecting the roots of my ancestors, who I know would be proud of where I am today. For me, it didn’t matter who was President, it mattered that it was the President. Having respect for political office is a view that I’m sure both the Queen and Prime Min­ister Theresa May share when they too hosted Erdogan in London. Whether it had been the Turkish or the German President, my actions would‘ve been no different.
I get that this may be hard to understand, as in most cultures the political leader cannot be thought of as being separate from the person. But in this case, it is different. Whatever the outcome would’ve been in this previous election, or the election before that, I would have still taken the picture.
I know that I am a footballer who has played in arguably the three toughest leagues in the world. I’ve been fortunate to receive great support from my teammates and coaching staff whilst playing in the Bundesliga, La Liga and the Premier League. And in addition, throughout my career, I’ve learnt to deal with the media.
A lot of people talk about my performances – many applaud and many criticise. If a newspaper or pundit finds fault in a game I play in,then I can accept this – I’m not a perfect footballer and this often motivates me to work and train harder. But what I can’t accept, are German media outlets repeatedly blaming my dual-heritage and a simple picture for a bad World Cup on behalf of an entire squad.
Certain German newspapers are using my background and photo with President Erdogan as right-wing propaganda to further their political cause.Why else did they use pictures and headlines with my name as a direct explanation for defeat in Russia?
They didn’t criticise my performances, they didn‘t criticise the team’s performances, they just criticised my Turkish ancestry and respect for my upbringing. This crosses a personal line that should never be crossed, as newspapers try to turn the nation of Germany against me.
What I also find disappointing are the double standards that the media has. Lothar Matthaus (an honorary German national team captain) met with another world leader a few days back, and received almost no media criticism. Despite his role with the DFB (German national team), they have not asked him to publicly explain his actions and he continues to represent the players of Germany without any reprimand. If the media felt that I should have been left of the World Cup squad, then surely he should be stripped of his honorary captaincy? Does my Turkish heritage make me a more worthy target?
I’ve always thought that a ‘partnership’ infers support, both in the good times and also during tougher situations. Recently, I planned to visit my former school Berger-Feld in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, along with two of my charitable partners. I funded a project for one year where immigrant children, children from poor families and any other children can play football together and learn social rules for life. However, days before we were scheduled to go, I was abandoned by my so-called ‘partners’, who no longer wanted to work with me at this time.To add to this, the school told my management that they no longer wanted me to be there at this time, as they “feared the media” due to my picture with President Erdogan, especially with the “right-wing party in Gelsenkirchen on the rise”. In all honesty, this really hurt. Despite being a student of theirs back when I was younger, I was made to feel unwanted and unworthy of their time.
In addition to this, I was renounced by another partner. As they are also a sponsor of the DFB, I was asked to take part in promotional videos for the World Cup. Yet after my picture with President Erdogan, they took me out of the campaigns and cancelled all promotional activities that were scheduled. For them, it was no longer good to be seen with me and called the situation ‘crisis management’. This is all ironic because a German Ministry declared their products have illegal and unauthorized software devices in them, which puts customers at risk. Hundreds of thousands of their products are getting recalled. Whilst I was being criticised and asked to justify my actions by the DFB, there was no such official and public explanation demanded of the DFB sponsor. Why? Am I right in thinking this is worse than a picture with the President of my family’s country? What does the DFB have to say about all this?
As I said before, ‘partners’ should stick with you in all situations. Adidas, Beats and Big Shoe have been extremely loyal and amazing to work with in this time. They rise above the nonsense created by the German press and media, and we carry out our projects in a professional manner that I really enjoy being part of. During the World Cup, I worked with BigShoe and helped get 23 young children life-changing surgeries in Russia, which I have also done previously in Brazil and Africa. This for me is the most important thing that I do as a football player, yet the newspapers find no space to raise awareness about this sort of thing.
For them, me being booed or taking a picture with a President is more significant then helping children get surgeries worldwide. They too have a platform to raise awareness and funds, but choose not to do so.
Arguably the issue that has frustrated me the most over the past couple of months has been the mistreatment from the DFB, and in particular the DFB President Reinhard Grindel. After my picture with President Erdogan I was asked by Joachim Low to cut short my holiday and go to Berlin and give a joint statement to end all the talk and set the record straight. Whilst I attempted to explain to Grindel my heritage, ancestry and therefore reasoning behind the photo, he was far more interested in speaking about his own political views and belittling my opinion.

Whilst his actions were patronising, we came to agree that the best thing to do was to concentrate on football and the upcoming World Cup. This is why I did not attend the DFB media day during the World Cup preparations. I knew journalists discussing politics and not football would just attack me,even though the whole issue was deemed to be over by Oliver Bierhoff in a TV interview he did before the Saudi Arabia game in Leverkusen.
During this time, I also met with the President of Germany,Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Unlike Grindel, President Steinmeier was professional and actually was interested in what I had to say about my family, my heritage and my decisions. I remember that the meeting was only between myself, llkay and President Steinmeier, with Grindel being upset that he wasn’t allowed inside to boost his own political agenda. I agreed with President Steinmeier that we would release a joint statement about the matter, in another attempt to move forward and focus on football. But Grindel was upset that it wasn’t his team releasing the first statement, annoyed that Steinmeier’s press office had to take lead on this matter.
Since the end of the World Cup, Grindel has come under much pressure regarding his decisions before the tournament started, and rightly so.Recently, he has publicly said I should once again explain my actions and puts me at fault for the poor team results in Russia, despite telling me it was over in Berlin. I am speaking now not for Grindel, but because I want to. I will no longer stand for being a scapegoat for his incompetence and inability to do his job properly. I know that he wanted me out the team after the picture, and publicised his view on Twitter without any thinking or consultation, but Joachim Low and Oliver Bierhoff stood up for me and backed me. In the eyes of Grindel and his supporters, I am German when we win, but I am an immigrant when we lose. This is because despite paying taxes in Germany, donating facilities to German schools and winning the World Cup with Germany in 2014, I am still not accepted into society. I am treated as being ‘different’. I received the ‘Bambi Award’ in 2010 as an example of successful integration to German society, I received a ‘Silver Laurel Leaf’ in 2014 from the Federal Republic of Germany, and I was a ‘German FootbalI Ambassador’ in 2015. But clearly, I am not German …? Are there criteria for being fully German that I do not fit? My friend Lukas Podolski and Miroslav Klose are never referred to as German-Polish,so why am I German-Turkish? Is it because it is Turkey? Is it because I’m a Muslim? I think here lays an important issue. By being referred to as German-Turkish, it is already distinguishing people who have family from more than one country. I was born and educated in Germany, so why don’t people accept that I am German?

Grindel’s opinions can be found elsewhere too. I was called by Bernd Holzhauer {a German politician) a “goat-f*ker” because of my picture with President Erdogan and my Turkish background. Furthermore, Werner Steer {Chief of German Theatre) told me to “piss off to Anatolia’ a place in Turkey where many immigrants are based. As I have said before, criticising and abusing me because of family ancestry is a disgraceful line to cross, and using discrimination as a tool for political propaganda is something thatshould immediately result in the resignation of those disrespectful individuals. These people have used my picture with President Erdogan as an opportunity to express their previously hidden racist tenden­cies, and this is dangerous for society. They are no better than the German fan who told me after the game against Sweden “Ozil, verpiss Dich Du scheiss Turkensau. Turkenschwein hau ab’ or in English “Ozil, fk off you Turkish s*t, piss of you Turkish pig.” I don’t want to even discuss the hate mail, threatening phone calls and comments on social media that my family and I have received. They all represent a Germany of the past, a Germany not open to new cultures, and a Germany that I am not proud of. I am confident that many proud Germans who embrace an open society would agree with me.
To you, Reinhard Grindel, I am disappointed but not surprised by your actions. In 2004 whilst you were a German member of Parliament, you claimed that “multiculturalism is in reality a myth [and] a lifelong lie” whilst you voted against legislation for dual-nationalities and punishments for bribery, as well as saying that Islamic culture has become too ingrained in many German cities. This is unforgivable and unforgettable.

The treatment I have received from the DFB and many others makes me no longer want to wear the German national team shirt. I feel unwanted and think that what I have achieved since my international debut in 2009 has been forgotten. People with racially discriminative backgrounds should not be allowed to work in the largest football federation in the world that has many players from dual-heritage families. Attitudes like theirs simply do not reflect the players they supposedly represent.
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. I used to wear the German shirt with such pride and excitement, but now I don’t. This decision has been extremely difficult to make because I have always given everything for my teammates, the coaching staff and the good people of Germany. 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.
Here’s how Twitter reacted to the news.


https://twitter.com/GoonerKaap/status/1021318800388567042


https://twitter.com/leylabntadem/status/1021162641593692160
 
 
 
 

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Sports

No surprises as Chelsea FC sack Antonio Conte as coach.

After two years in charge at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea have sacked Antonio Conte from his position as head coach. The Italian who guided the Blues to a memorable Premier League title win in his first season, and a FA cup victory was told he was axed at a meeting today, sky sports reports.
Chelsea’s dismal performance during the 2017/2018 campaign which did not only see them finish 5th on the premier league table but also made them finish a 30 points behind Manchester City, is not unlikely to be responsible for this development.
Antonio Conte has the best win % (65.1%) of any manager in Chelsea’s history to take charge of 100+ games. He is the first manager to win 30 Premier League games in a single season.
They look to appoint Maurizio Sarri as his successor .
 

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Sports

"The moment has arrived for a new cycle." Ronaldo in emotional tribute to Real Madrid fans.

Cristiano Ronaldo has written an open letter to his fans in the wake of his €105m move to Juventus today. The 33 year-old thanked the club, colleagues and his fans for their support throughout his 9-year spell, adding that he is leaving to start a new chapter in his life. The Portuguese’s letter was published on Real Madrid’s website. Read below:
“These years in Madrid, and in this city of Madrid, have been possibly the happiest of my life. I only have feelings of enormous thanks for this club, this fanbase and this city. I can only give thanks to all of them for the love and affection that I have received. However, I think that the moment has arrived to start a new chapter in my life and therefore I have asked the club to accept letting me leave. I am sorry it is like this and I ask all of you, especially our followers, to please understand me. 
“These have been nine absolutely marvellous years. These have been nine unique years. It has been an emotional time for me, full of consideration because Real Madrid takes the most out of you but I know very well that I won’t be able to ever forget that here I’ve enjoyed football in a completely unique way. 
“I only have feelings of enormous thanks for this club, this fanbase and this city. I can only give thanks to all of them for the love and affection that I have received. However, I think that the moment has arrived to start a new chapter in my life and therefore I have asked the club to accept letting me leave. I am sorry it is like this and I ask all of you, especially our followers, to please understand me. 

“These have been nine absolutely marvellous years. These have been nine unique years. It has been an emotional time for me, full of consideration because Real Madrid takes the most out of you but I know very well that I won’t be able to ever forget that here I’ve enjoyed football in a completely unique way. 
“I have had on the field and in the dressing room some fabulous teammates, I have felt the heat of an incredible fanbase and together we have won three consecutive Champions Leagues and four in five years. Together with those I have the individual satisfaction of having won four Ballon d’Or and three Golden Boots. All during my spell in this immense, extraordinary club. 
“Real Madrid has conquered my heart and that of my family, and that is why more than ever I want to say thanks: thanks to the club, to the president, to the directors, to my friends, to all the coaches, doctors, physios, incredible workers that make everything function that are attending tirelessly to every detail.
“Infinite thanks one more time to our fans and thank you also to Spanish football. During this incredible nine years I have played against incredible players. My respect and my recognition goes out to all them.
“I have reflected a lot and I know that the moment has arrived for a new cycle. I am leaving but this shirt, this badge and the Santiago Bernabeu  I will continue to feel as something that is mine wherever I go. 
“Thank you to everyone and, of course, like I said for the first time in our stadium nine years ago: Hala Madrid!”
 
Ronaldo in Real Madrid
Appearances: 438
Goals: 450
Assists: 119
Hat-tricks: 44

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Sports

Real Madrid confirm the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus for €105m.

Portuguese forward, Cristiano Ronaldo has put an end to his 9-year stay in Spain after agreeing to join Italian champions, Juventus on a 4-year old deal worth around £88million. The current world best player who scored a record 450 goals in 438 games, and won four Champions League titles with Real – and the move, believed to be worth around £88million, will be seen as a big step forward for Italian football.
A statement from Real Madrid read: “Real Madrid C. F. communicates that, according to the will and request expressed by the player Cristiano Ronaldo, we have agreed to transfer him to Juventus F. C. Today Real Madrid wants to express its gratitude to a player who has proved to be the best in the world and who has marked one of the most brilliant times in the history of our club and world football.

“Beyond the conquered titles, the trophies and the triumphs achieved in the playing fields during these nine years, Cristiano Ronaldo has been an example of dedication, work, responsibility, talent and improvement.
“He has also become the top scorer in the history of Real Madrid with 451 goals in 438 games. In total, [Ronaldo won] 16 titles, including 4 European Cups, three of them consecutively and four in the last five seasons. On an individual basis, in the Real Madrid jersey he has won four Ballon d’Ors, two (Fifa’s) The Best, and three Gold Boots, among many other awards.
“For Real Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo will always be one of the great symbols and a unique inspiration for the next generations.
“Real Madrid will always be your home.”
 

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Sports

Spain appoint Luis Enrique on a two-year deal

Former Barcelona coach, Luis Enrique has been named Spain’s new head coach, the Spanish Football Federation (SFF) have announced.. This development is coming after Fernando Hierro stepped down from temporary charge following their last-16 World Cup exit to Russia.

 Recall that Spain sacked their former coach Julen Lopetegui just two days before their opening World Cup game against Portugal in Sochi.
“We need a successful coach, who’s modern and who knows the game style but can make small adjustments. We can’t swipe everything clean, with regards to all the work carried out.” Spain’s new sporting director, José Francisco Molina, maintained.
The president of the SFF, Luis Rubiales, added, “We have not spoken to anybody else – only Luis Enrique. We liked his commitment and he has turned down better paid jobs to coach the Spanish national team.”
Enrique’s contract is for two years and his first game in charge will be a friendly against England, on 8 September at Wembley. He won 8 titles in 3 seasons at Barcelona

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Sports

World Cup 2018: FIFA sanctions Maradona over middle finger gesture.

 
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Argentine football legend, Diego Maradona has been sanctioned by FIFA for swearing and giving the middle finger in front of millions of TV viewers as he celebrated Argentina’s late winner against Nigeria on Tuesday in the Saint Petersburg Stadium.
For that disgraceful act, The 1986 World Cup winner will no longer be paid as an ambassador of world soccer governing body FIFA. His behaviour has been termed embarrassing and provocative hence he will no longer receive the £10,000 he was receiving from the world soccer governing body to appear at World Cup matches.
He has also been warned to be of good conduct in the remaining games he will attend at the World Cup. A possible stadium ban awaits the former Napoli forward if he repeats the act.

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Sports

Cancer fight: Carl Ikeme announces complete remission.

One year after Super Eagles and Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club goalkeeper, Carl Ikeme was diagnosed with acute leukemia, the British Nigerian has provided an update on his condition on his social media accounts.
‘After a year of intense chemotherapy I would like to share that I am in complete REMISSION. I still have hurdles to pass to be cured,but hopefully I can move on with some normality! I would like to thank everyone for there support over the past year. Thank you❤ #Grateful🙏🏽’
Expectedly, there have been an outpour of reactions to the good news.

His club side, Wolves excitedly tweeted, ‘There have been some fantastic moments this year but this by far tops them all. We’re all delighted for you Carl Ikeme. See you soon.”

The NFF also added, ‘Great News! We are with you through and through and God will see this healing through. #OurCarlIsBack‘

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Opinion

Opinion: The 2019 Nigerian Presidential Elections | By: Tony Ogunlowo

The Nigerian Presidential Elections are barely a year away. It’ll be an interesting and definitive election that the whole of Nigeria – and the rest of the World – will be watching very carefully. Again it’s going to be a test to see if democracy can survive in Africa.

Traditionally incumbent Presidents can expect to win a majority of the votes cast with a ‘swing vote’ – floating or undecided voters – deciding whether they’ll be elected for a second term or not.
Nigeria is a funny country and nobody knows what this ‘swing vote’ will be: the electorate normally makes its judgement  based on how well the President manages the economy and deals with civil unrest. In the case of ex-President Goodluck it was his inability to eradicate Boko Haram, rescue the Chibok girls and control rampant corruption in his government that made the voters vote him out of office.
The incumbent won the Presidential ticket on the single basis of turning the country around. In this task he has failed, but yet again the problems besetting Nigeria can’t be solved in a single or double tenure of office by a President; the right President will need a millennium to sort out Nigeria’s problems!
The incumbent President is not in a good position to win the elections in 2019: too many things have gone wrong; some his fault and others beyond his control. The falling prices of oil on the international market is one factor: with no money in the nations coffers very little can be done. Corruption is still rife and all promises to bring all guilty politicians to book have failed: corrupt politicians have proved to be cleverer, either  hiding behind Section 308 or playing legal games which makes it difficult to secure convictions. He (the president) will be savaged by the electorate on further issues concerning his health and his suitability for the post, his inability to bring the country out of recession and most important of all his stance on the infamous militant Fulani herdsmen. The Presidential election will not be a contest between APC or PDP parties but rather against one man – the President – and a lot of people will gang up against him just to get him out of office.
There are a lot of Presidential aspirants in the waiting and borrowing a leaf from the American Presidential elections of 2016 the voting public fed up with the establishment might well vote in a maverick – like Donald Trump – just to see what somebody else can do. And if Baba Iyabo has anything to do with it, it might well be a coalition of opposition parties – or one of his protégés – that will be vying for the top job – and may win it!
Nigerians want results and not promises. It’s one thing to mount an election podium and make outlandish promises and another thing to deliver. If you can’t deliver you’ll be called out and stoned!
A presidential aspirant in Nigeria needs to make promises they can deliver within their tenure, whether that be the eradication of Boko Haram or the creation of jobs. Nigeria is a cesspool of problems and one person can’t solve all its problems in one go: Rome wasn’t built in a day! So instead of promising Heaven and Earth and nothing gets done – which is a logical conclusion –  make meaningful promises that can be attained within a specific time. This way people will see that something is being done.
Perhaps the time has come for a much younger person to take over the helm of affairs instead of all these old babas who have been meddling in Nigeria’s affairs since before independence: no more analogue 20thcentury Presidents but a digital one for the 21st century who’ll be in tune with everyone whether they be ‘lazy’ youths, pompous billionaires or ‘snake-oil-merchant’ politicians. New young person = new ideas and style of governance (- hopefully!)
 Even though the electorate will demand everything be fixed within the Presidents tenure, the latter has to be honest in outlying what he can or cannot do. At the end of the day the President is only human and can humanely do whatever he can to keep over a 180 million people happy.
Therefore in choosing a new President Nigerians need to understand that the person they’re electing has a long term vision for the country – this is the only way. Where Nigeria is concerned there is no such thing as a quick fix solution.

Follow Tony Ogunlowo on Twitter: @Archangel641 or visit http://www.archangel641.blogspot.co.uk

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Sports

2018 World Cup: Download Super Eagles' theme song, 'Dem Go Hear Am'.

Aiteo Group (www.AiteoGroup.com), the Official Optimum Partner of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), last Saturday premiered to industry applause, an official theme song to mentally boost the Super Eagles of Nigeria to go for glory at the Russia 2018 World Cup. This is also as they pledged to donate $50,000 to the team ‘for every unreturned goal’ scored at the Mundial.
The rousing theme song titled, ‘Dem Go Hear Am, meaning “Go Show Them” was put together by Nigeria’s Hip-Hop/Afrobeat luminaries; Olamide and Phyno. The Single, has been well received by Nigeria’s teeming football and music fans, and is currently enjoying massive airplay with over 1,000,000 downloads recorded across assorted media channels. The hit track had also garnered 7.5 million social media impressions barely 24 hours after release.
According to Benedict Peters, the Executive Vice Chairman of Aiteo Global Group, the Group’s sponsorship of the theme song is yet another demonstration of its commitment to promoting football in Nigeria as a means of uniting the people.
“Football is a phenomenon in Nigeria. You can see and feel its power on every street. It galvanises unity amongst our people, irrespective of ethnic or class differences. As the World Cup kicks off, we solidly throw our weight behind our national team and its ever-effervescent supporters spread across the globe. We look forward to great football moments that will become historic as the Super Eagles play to covet the World Cup trophy,” he said.
Also speaking at the launch of the theme song, President of Nigeria’s Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick, extolled Aiteo for its unflinching support for football development in Nigeria. “Aiteo has been magnanimous, not just to the Super Eagles but in their contributions towards the revitalisation of football in Nigeria and Africa. Our partnership has returned impressive results; we are able to pay our coaches on time and keep our players well motivated. We are glad that Aiteo continues to exceed our expectations always. They are indeed deserving of commendations.”
Aiteo signed a N2.5 billion (about USD 7 million) sponsorship agreement with NFF in May 2017, to cater for the salaries of all national team coaches for a period of five years.
At a star-studded listening party for the theme song which held in Lagos on Saturday June 9, 2018, Aiteo Group, also announced a $50,000 bonus for every unreturned goal scored by the Super Eagles, at the Mundial.
Download the song: https://goo.gl/b7yktq
Scan QR code to download song: https://goo.gl/E69BUj

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Sports

Spain Sack Julen Lopetegui On The Eve Of World Cup

Spain have sacked manager Julen Lopetegui just one day before the start of the 2018 World Cup.
Lopetegui was announced as Zinedine Zidane‘s successor at Real Madrid and will resume duty immediately after the World Cup. The president of the Spanish FA (RFEF) Luis Rubiales revealed that he was not informed of Lopetegui’s new role, he only heard about Madrid’s impending appointment five minutes before the official announcement.
Rubiales told reporters at a press conference in Krasnodar. “We have been forced to dispense with the national coach. We wish him the best of luck. What the Spanish team achieves, will have to do with the work he has developed. The negotiation has happened without any information to the RFEF, just five minutes before the press release. There is a way of acting that must be fulfilled. We have to work on a series of decisions that come two days before the beginning of the World Cup. There is a lot to do.
“I do not feel betrayed. Lopetegui, while he has been with us, has done an impeccable job. [However], this has been done without knowledge of the RFEF. We will touch the staff as little as possible, as soon as we have something to communicate, we will do it. I have a very close relationship with the players, as with Julen, it’s a very complex situation, the most complex one I could find.

“We are in a very complicated situation, but the players and the new coaching staff will do everything in their power to take the team as far as possible. The Spanish national team is the team of the Spanish. You cannot do things this way, two or three days before the World Cup. We have been forced to make this decision.
“I admire Julen a lot, I respect him a lot, I think he’s a top trainer and that makes it more difficult to make the decision. I’m sure this will, over time, make us stronger. I know it’s a very difficult situation, I know there’s going to be criticism whatever I do, but the values ​​of the RFEF are set by the RFEF itself. We cannot remain on the sidelines of a negotiation of one of its workers and find out five minutes before the issuance of a statement. We have been forced to act.
“The team will do everything to get the best results, we cannot talk about hypothesis, but the RFEF cannot find out five minutes before it becomes public. In the RFEF we cannot not fulfil our own values. It is a difficult and painful situation, we would have liked to finish here with Julen at the top, but we have not determined the way we act.”
Lopetegui was unbeaten in his 20 matches as Spain boss, having succeeded Vicente del Bosque following the team’s exit from Euro 2016. Spain sporting director Fernando Hierro and Under-21 coach Albert Celades will take charge of Spain at the tournament.

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