Ozil
After
helping Germany lift the World Cup midfilder Mesut Ozil has captured
the hearts of Brazilian youngsters, after revealing he has donated
around £350,000 of his personal winnings to 23 children’s surgeries in
the South American country.
The Arsenal playmaker confirmed the news
on his Facebook page, and wrote, “Prior to the World Cup I supported
the surgery of eleven sick children. Since the victory of the World Cup
is not only due to 11 players but to our whole team, I will now raise
the number to 23. This is my personal thank-you for the hospitality of
the people of Brazil. #Bigshoe#Brasil2014.”
His donation sparked confusion on social
media sites, with many claiming that his earnings were to be sent to
the children of Gaza to aid their recent plight.
Reports had claimed that the 25-year-old
German international, who is of Turkish descent and is a practicing
Muslim, donated the money to the children of Gaza.
GolTV posted a picture of a dirty Real
Madrid Ozil jersey on Facebook, and added a caption that Özil would be
giving his World Cup winnings to Gaza after “a child was assassinated
wearing his jersey.”
The rumours, which started to circulate on Twitter on July 11, led to his represenative, Roland Eitel, to deny them.
“The claim that Mesut donated money to
Gaza is not true,” he said. “Maybe in the future, who knows? He donated
money to causes in Brazil and he is now on holiday.”
Each member of Germany’s squad received
£240,000 for defeating Argentina at the Maracana and Ozil’s donation is
part of the BigShoe project – whose goal is to help underprivileged
children with medical needs.
Comments
Post a Comment
Hello