Essen-born Atakan Karazor was nominated for the Turkish national team for the first time. Nevertheless, he did not make his debut, which is likely to be for more than sporting reasons.

Atakan Karazor, a midfielder for VfB Stuttgart, was nominated for the Turkish national soccer team for the first time shortly after deciding against the German national team. The captain of the Bundesliga club was in the squad for the Nations League games against Montenegro (October 11) and Iceland (October 14).

The Essen native, who has both German and Turkish citizenship, had hoped to make his debut for Turkey during the international match week. However, it did not come to that, because the 28-year-old had to watch both the Turks’ 1-0 win against Montenegro and their 4-2 win against Iceland.

At first glance, it is surprising that Karazor was not even in the squad for the first game against the Balkan state. For “technical reasons”, as it was said. The accusations of sexual assault from 2022 could be at least part of the reason. At the time, Karazor was held in pre-trial custody in Ibiza for several weeks and was released on conditions and a €500,000 bail. The preliminary proceedings have been dragging on since then and no indictment has been filed so far. He is presumed innocent.

As the issue of sexualized violence is currently boiling up in Turkey, the Karazor case from 2022 was also taken up by the media after national coach Vincenzo Montella had nominated the VfB midfielder for the two international matches that have now been played. But apparently the Turkish association got cold feet, at least that’s the impression given by the way things went.

On Monday evening in Reykjavik, Karazor was at least in the squad. However, he was not allowed to play in the 4-2 defeat to Iceland. The non-substitution can be explained by the close course of the game, with the decisive goals for Turkey from Arda Güler and Kerem Aktürkoglu not coming until the 88th minute and in injury time. Furthermore, the VfB player was not the only professional in the squad who did not play.

Nevertheless, the association’s handling of the matter raises questions, especially since Karazor could have “played himself into the team”, as he could theoretically also play for the German national team. Besides, the Ibiza incident, which could be the reason for not being called up to the squad against Montenegro, happened more than two years ago. In Turkey, this discussion should not have come as a surprise to anyone. It is possible that the VfB officials will be asking the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) officials about the background in the next few days.