The DFB have issued a statement regarding Germany internationals Ilkay Gündogan and Mesut Özil’s meeting with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan in London.

DFB president Reinhard Grindel: "The DFB of course respects the special situation for our players with migrant backgrounds, but football and the DFB stands for values that Mr. Erdogan does not sufficiently respect. Therefore, it is not a good thing that our internationals have let themselves be exploited for his election campaign stunt. It certainly hasn’t helped the DFB’s integration efforts.”

DFB team coordinator Oliver Bierhoff: “I still have absolutely no doubts about Mesut and Ilkay’s commitment to playing for the Germany national team and how much they identify with our values. They were unaware of the symbolism of these pictures, but we cannot endorse it, and we will discuss the matter with the players.”