Enes Kanter: when politics affects sports

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For the Turkish player of the NBA represents a danger to play a game in London because of his opposition to the president of his country, Recep Tayyip Erdogan

On January 17, in London, will be played the game between the New York Knicks and the Washington Wizards. However, this sporting event has been more framed in the political field than in the sports one.

Which is the reason? It is feared that the life of the Turkish player, Enes Kanter, might be in danger. According to the BBC, this basketball player has assured that he does not feel safe traveling the United Kingdom, because he is an iron opponent of the current president of Turkey, Erdogan.

On the other hand, Kanter, according to this same newspaper, clarifies that: "I'm not saying that Erdogan will order an operative in London against me, but it goes further on the fact that there are many of his crazy followers."

And his fears are fundamental, since in recent weeks this player has received hundreds of threats for his political stance. However, the official explanation of the New York Nicks is somewhat different. As reported by ESPN, it is argued that: "an officer of the Knicks team said that Kanter will not travel due to a visa problem."
The truth is that Enes Kanter will not travel to the British capital for fear of putting his life at risk, and in addition to this, because of a problem with his passport. But, he has not been the only player who has been involved in politics: Mesut Özil and Cristiano Ronaldo are other examples

Mesut Özil, unpatriotic?

The player Mesut Ozil, known to be one of the stars of German football with Turkish ancestry, was accused by the ultranationalist party Antinmigración Alternativa para Alemania (AFD), as a staunch anti-patriot. The reason for these remarks is that, in 2016, the leader of this match, Frauke Petry, harshly criticized the Arsenal star for not singing the German anthem and making a pilgrimage to Mecca.

The newspaper portrayed Petry's words: "It's a shame that Mesut Özil, a figure that identifies many children and teenagers, does not sing the national anthem … also with respect to the mecca, we should ask Özil if he wanted to send a message "However, Ozil has a popular phrase for this type of signal:" I am German when I win, and immigrant when I lose ".

Also read: No more violence! These would be the Italian league measures

 Cristiano Ronaldo, anti-Semitic?

"I do not exchange t-shirts with murderers". These were the words that went around the Jewish world when, in a match in 2013, the Portugal team faced Israel. Some media, such as Voz Populi, claimed that this happened when one of the Israeli players asked CR7 for the shirt. Immediately, some pro-Jewish voices dismissed this star as an anti-Semite.

However, it is known that this Portuguese player is committed to Palestinian children. So much so that in 2011 he donated 1.5 million euros to the Gaza Strip, according to the newspaper mentioned above.

LatinAmerican Post | Miguel Diaz

Translated from "Enes Kanter: cuando la política afecta el deporte"