A supporter of China's Muslim Uighur minority holds a placard of Arsenal's Turkish-origin German midfielder Mesut Ozil during a demonstration at Beyazid square in Istanbul© AFP Ozan KOSE
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV on Sunday pulled from its schedule Arsenal's English Premier League match against Manchester City.
Former Germany midfielder Mesut Özil has criticized other Muslims for not speaking up for China's Uighur minority. More than 1 million people in the western province of Xinjiang have been sent to re-education camps.
DW, 15.12.2019
CCTV's move followed Gunners midfielder Mesut Özil's criticism of China's policy towards its Muslim Uighur minority.
The match was scheduled to be broadcast live on CCTV's sports channel; however, it was replaced with a prerecorded game between Tottenham and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
"Qurans are being burnt. Mosques are being shut down. Muslim schools are being banned. Religious scholars are being killed. Brothers are forcefully being sent to camps," Özil, a Muslim of Turkish descent,posted in Turkish on Twitter and Instagram.
"The Muslims are silent. Their voice is not heard," he wrote on a background of a blue field with a white crescent moon, the flag of what Uighur separatists call East Turkestan.
Arsenal distances itself from Özil's comments
About 1 million Uighurs and other minorities have been detained in high-security camps, according to human-rights activists and the United Nations.
China initially denied the camps existed but now describes them as vocational schools aimed at dampening the allure of Islamist extremism and violence.
The Chinese Football Association (CFA) said Özil's comments were "unacceptable" and "hurt the feelings" of Chinese supporters.
"Özil's comments are undoubtedly hurtful to the Chinese fans who closely follow him, and at the same time his comments also hurt the feelings of Chinese people. This is something we cannot accept," government-backed news outlet The Paper reported, quoting an unnamed CFA official.
Arsenal said that Özil's comments were his personal opinion and that the club stayed out of politics.
