The Chinese authorities do not accept that Arsenal’s star player Mesut Özil has commented online about the treatment of the Uighurs, a Turkish Muslim minority. The Chinese state television CCTV has today scrapped the live broadcast of the top player Arsenal-Manchester City.
On Instagram and Twitter, Özil, who has 25 million followers on Twitter worldwide, especially fellow Muslims accused them of being silent about the treatment of their faith brothers in China. “Korans are burned, mosques closed, schools banned and religious scientists are killed one by one.
The men must be in camps while their families are forced to live with Chinese men. Women are forced to marry Chinese men, “writes Özil, among others in Turkish.
The faithful footballer and declared supporter of the Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan previously stood up for the Uyghurs. In Chinese reactions, the controversial tweet of the footballer as slander and lie is rejected.
Indignation is also heard in social media. “Özil’s comments have seriously offended the Chinese people, and that is not accepted,” said a response from China.
Despite immediate apologies from his club Arsenal and explanation that it is a personal opinion of a football player who is absolutely not expressing a position of the club, the Chinese remain angry. Criticism from outside is compassionate in Beijing.
In this case, it is also risky for a multi-million dollar company such as Arsenal. China has 187 million football fans, according to a recent estimate, who often buy expensive shirts.
Arsenal is famous in China and earns millions there. That income is now at risk. The state broadcaster CCTV now chooses to replace the Arsenal match with a previously recorded match, namely the match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur.
