New Delhi: Mesut Özil, a German football player from Arsenal, has come under fire for condemning the detention of ethnic Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, China.
The midfielder’s posts on Twitter and Instagram Friday called Uyghurs “warriors who resist persecution”. He criticised the human rights violations in the detention camps and also the “silence” of the Muslims across the world about their situation. Özil is of Turkish descent and is a practicing Muslim.
“The men are forced into camps and their families are forced to live with Chinese men. The women are forced to marry Chinese men… But Muslims are silent,” read the post.
Özil’s reference to Xinjiang as East Turkistan in his post — the name used by proponents of Uyghur self-rule which is categorically rejected by China — fuelled the controversy further.
The Chinese foreign ministry said the Arsenal star was “deceived by fake news” and invited him to come see China for himself. Beiing has repeatedly denied the mistreatment of Uyghurs and maintains that the camps are part of an anti-terrorism campaign.
China’s response
China’s national broadcaster, CCTV, cancelled the broadcast of Arsenal’s Premier League game against Manchester City Sunday, two days after Özil’s post. The game was also blocked from online streaming services PPTV Sports and Migu Sports.
China is the English Premier League’s largest international buyer of television rights with a three-year contract worth $700 million.
Global Times, a Chinese publication, refused to translate the remarks saying it did not wish to “publicize Özil’s opinions”.
Weibo, a Chinese social media site where the footballer has over 4 million followers, erupted with angry posts over the weekend. Fans criticised Özil for his remarks, posted pictures of them burning Arsenal jerseys and demanded that the club fire the star player.
Arsenal distanced itself from the controversy and “sought to limit any damage caused to its business in China”. It released a statement on Weibo, shortly after CCTV’s Sunday blockade, stressing that Özil’s remarks were his personal views.
The club opened its first Arsenal-themed sports bar in Shanghai last year and owns a chain of restaurants there.
Has China done this before?
This wouldn’t be the first time Beijing locked horns with a major global sports league.
In October, Chinese broadcasters stopped screening NBA games after a pro-Hong Kong tweet by Daryl Morey, Houston Rockets’ general manager. Morey later deleted the tweet.
Corporate partners also suspended ties with the basketball league and Houston Rockets’ merchandise were pulled from several Nike stores.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver claimed that Chinese partners wanted Morey to be sacked over the tweet. The Chinese foreign ministry vehemently denied these claims.