Germany's İlkay Gündoğan had his car vandalised in the wake of him posing for a picture with Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, German media reported on Saturday.
Gündoğan , born in Germany to Turkish parents, filed a complaint with police after his car was damaged on the evening of June 7, the day before Germany's last warm-up game in Cologne, not far from the hotel where the team was staying.
During the match, home fans loudly booed and whistled Gündoğan when he came on and every time he touched the ball as Germany beat Saudi Arabia 2-1.
On Saturday, pictures in Bild, a German tabloid, showed the right rear side window had been smashed.
Police in Cologne told the SID agency that the player had lodged a complaint, the investigation was in progress and political motivation had not been ruled out.
Local media linked the attack on Manchester City footballer to his recent meeting with the Turkish President Erdoğan in London.
On May 13, Gündoğan , who plays for Manchester City, and another English-based, Gelsenkirchen-born, German international of Turkish descent, Mesut Özil, met Erdogan in London and gave him signed club shirts. In addition, the German footballers also had their photos taken with the Turkish president.
German politicians from the far right to the Greens also criticised the players. And also the Turkish-origin footballers Gündoğan and Özil were unfairly targeted in German media outlets for the meeting in London.
On the same day, May 14, German Football Federation (DFB) President Reinhard Grindel slammed the meeting, alleging that Özil and Gündoğan were exploited by Erdoğan's election campaign.
Youth and Sports Minister Osman Aşkın Bak on Saturday expressed his support for the football player.
"(The attack was for) provocative purpose, a sportsman must be evaluated by his play and morality," he said.
Bak said that such incidents only damages the fair-play spirit of sports, adding that Gündoğan and Özil would respond to the attackers and critics with their performance at the World Cup in Russia.
