An Iranian-born footballing prodigy has refused to play an international match in Israel for his adopted country of Germany, sparking a debate about national identity, anti-Semitism and the appeasement of a police state. Ashkan Dejagah, a 21-year-old who is one of the up-and-coming stars in Germany, had no idea that he was treading on a political hornets’ nest when he announced that he would not be coming to Friday’s Tel Aviv game for “personal reasons”.

Dejagah, who came to Germany as a child with two Iranian parents, was immediately hailed as a hero by the Tehran Government. The Iranian sports newspaper, Goal, called his action “heroic and masterful”. Since the Islamic revolution of 1979, Iran has refused to recognise Israel and forbids its citizens from taking part in sporting contests there.

Dejagah has dual German and Iranian citizenship. The player’s reluctance to travel to Israel appears to have been prompted not by the desire to make an anti-Semitic gesture but rather a fear that he would be denied entry to Iran, where many of his relatives still live.

“I have more Iranian blood in my veins than German,” said Dejagah, who plays for VfL Wolfsburg and who was due to take part in a European Under-21 qualifier. “I am doing this out of respect - after all, my parents are Iranian.”

But he has enraged the Jewish community and German conservatives. “It is unthinkable and impossible that a German national player should initiate a private boycott of the Jews,” fumed Dieter Graumann, deputy-president of the Central Council for German Jewry. Activists are calling on the German Football Federation to drop Dejagah from the national squad.

They are concerned that international sporting events could increasingly become the platform for protests against Israel.

For the conservative Christian Democrats, it was proof that integration of immigrants is not working properly in Germany. Ronald Pofalla, the general secretary of the party, declared that immigrants had to make clear their loyalty to Germany. “Whoever represents Germany, whether he be a native German or an immigrant, has to identify with the history and culture of our society,” Mr Pofalla said. “If he does not want to do so out of personal political reasons, then that national jersey has to be removed.” Germans seemed to be divided yesterday between those who believed, like Mr Pofalla, that the player had let down their country, and those who argued that a squad member had the right to withdraw from a game for personal or family reasons. At first the German Football Federation gave the young player the benefit of the doubt but it was retreating yesterday after the torrent of protests.

Theo Zwanziger, the head of the federation, said yesterday that he would appeal to Dejagah’s personal sense of responsibility. “He basically has to decide for whom he is playing,” Mr Zwanziger said. “He cannot just say, ‘Today I’m an Iranian, tomorrow I’m a German, according to how I feel’.”

Other Iranian players have wriggled out of the dilemma by feigning injury. Vasid Hashemian claimed a sprained back rather than travel to Israel in 2004 with his team Bayern Munich for a Champions League match against Maccabi Tel Aviv. The Iranian Sports federation had warned him of consequences if he played in Israel.

In the same year an Iranian judo champion withdrew from a bout with an Israeli at the Athens Olympic Games. He told reporters that he was overweight and so unfit for the fight.