This archive report was first published on 16 December 2019.
On Sunday, China Central Television (CCTV) canceled a live broadcast of an English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Arsenal, citing comments made by Arsenal star Mesut Özil on Twitter.
Özil, a German footballer of Turkish heritage, had publicly condemned China's treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, a region in northwestern China, where a largely Muslim Turkic minority, the Uighurs, have been subjected to mass detention.
According to a report by The Global Times, a state-run media outlet, Özil's comments were deemed 'false' by Chinese authorities, who claimed that he had 'disappointed' Chinese soccer fans.
Özil's comments, which were posted on his Twitter and Instagram accounts, described the internment of Muslims in China, stating that 'they shut down their mosques, they ban their schools, they kill their holy men, the men are forced into camps and their families are forced to live with Chinese men.'
On Monday, Geng Shuang, a spokesman for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, invited Özil to visit Xinjiang, stating that Özil had been 'blinded by some fake news and his judgment has been influenced by some false words.'
The incident recalled a similar controversy in October, when the general manager of the National Basketball Association's Houston Rockets, Daryl Morey, tweeted his support for pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.
Özil's comments sparked a heated debate, with some calling for him to be banned from playing in China. However, Arsenal distanced themselves from Özil's comments, stating that they did not condone his views.
