German sports brand, Adidas has ended their £22 million sponsorship deal with Mesut Ozil with Bild (as cited by the Sun) claiming that it could have been because of his recent image.
Ozil has been sponsored by the German firm since 2013 and his last contract is set to expire at the end of this season.
The report claims that the company has no intention of giving him a new deal.
Ozil has become more of a controversial figure both on and off the pitch in recent years as the German continues to struggle to justify his hefty salary at Arsenal.
He resigned from the German national team in 2018 after accusing the country’s FA of racism.
He was also photographed with controversial Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan a few years back, a move that caused a stir around the world.
More recently, he criticized China’s treatment of a Muslim minority group in their country and that angered China who retaliated by taking his name off their search engines.
The German was also revealed to be one of the players who refused to take a pay cut at Arsenal this season as the club struggled to cope with the coronavirus pandemic.
With companies around the world struggling to survive due to the impact of the coronavirus, it has also been revealed that Adidas may have opted not to give him a new contract because they want to sort out their finances.
Ozil is clearly a toxic figure, largely self-inflicted and this move from Adidas should come as no surprise. It will not be too long now when Arsenal will finally be able to rid themselves of this man once and for all.
