Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil booted from Chinese mobile game

Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil has been deleted from Chinese versions of the popular Pro Evolution Soccer mobile game.

Arsenal's Mesut Ozil during the game between Arsenal and Manchester City in London on December 15. Picture: AFP

Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil has been deleted from Chinese versions of the popular Pro Evolution Soccer mobile game, the title’s China distributor has said, as the fallout continued over his criticism of the country’s treatment of its Uighur minority.

US-listed Chinese internet company NetEase said on Thursday it removed Ozil from the game because of his “extreme comment about China”.

Ozil, a German of Turkish origin, condemned China’s crackdown on Muslim minorities in the western region of Xinjiang in a tweet on Friday and criticised Muslim countries for not speaking up about the alleged abuses.

Arsenal has distanced itself from his comments, while China said his tweets were “untruthful” and he was “deceived by fake news”.

NetEase announced on its Chinese social media accounts that Ozil’s comments had “hurt the feelings of Chinese fans and ­violated the sport’s spirit of love and peace”.

“We do not understand, accept or forgive this comment.”

China has faced growing international condemnation for setting up a vast network of camps in Xinjiang, where critics say ­Uig­hurs are pressured to renounce Islam, support the ruling Communist Party and integrate with China’s majority Han culture.

More than a million Uighurs and other mostly Muslim minorities have been incarcerated, part of a government response to years of unrest against Beijing’s control of Xinjiang.

China at first denied the camps existed but under growing pressure later acknowledged them, saying they were vocational training centres.

Following Ozil’s comments, Chinese state television dropped plans to broadcast the Premier League club’s match last Sunday, and discussion of the topic is now heavily censored in China.

China moved in October to punish the NBA Houston Rockets after general manager Daryl Morey tweeted support for Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters.

Ozil has been praised on Twitter for speaking out, with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also weighing in this week. “China’s Communist Party propaganda outlets can censor @Mesut­Ozil1088 and @Arsenal’s games all season long, but the truth will prevail,” he wrote on Twitter, chastising China for its “gross” rights violations against Uighurs.

Turkey, which shares linguistic and ethnic ties with the ­Uighurs, has been outspoken on the issue but most Muslim-­majority countries have been muted in the face of China’s commercial and diplomatic power.

AFP