Iran-born player to remain on German U-21 team

Iran-born player who stirred controversy by withdrawing from a match against Israel can keep his place on Germany's Under-21 national soccer team, the German Football Association (DFB) said.

DFB president Theo Zwanziger met with Ashkan Dejagah, 21, yesterday to determine whether he should continue playing for Germany after several politicians and the country's top Jewish group demanded he be dropped.

"Ashkan Dejagah has assured us that, due to his Iranian background, he was exclusively concerned with the well-being of his family," Zwanziger said.

"He stressed... that there were no racist or anti-Semitic reasons."

Dejagah had asked to be allowed to withdraw from Germany's U-21 Euro Championship qualifier in Israel on Oct. 12, citing "personal reasons."

Dejagah, who plays for Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg, was born in Tehran but moved to Germany with his parents and holds both German and Iranian passports.

Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran has refused to recognise Israel's right to exist and Iranian citizens are forbidden from travelling to Israel.

Germany's mass-selling daily Bild quoted Dejagah on Oct. 8 as saying his decision not to play was politically motivated.

In response, the Central Council of Jews in Germany demanded that the player be excluded from the team and the Interior Ministry said that politics should have no role in sport.

Good relations with Israel are a top priority in Germany because of the Holocaust, in which some six million Jews were murdered.

On Monday, Dejagah apologised for his quote in Bild. "In case I expressed myself in a way that was misunderstood, I'm sorry," he said.

"It's clear that I am determined to continue playing for Germany."

Dejagah has agreed to play against Israel when they visit Germany in September 2008.