The reaction to Ozil's criticism reflects an increased willingness by China's game industry to flex its muscles in support of the government, as seen previously in response to expressions of support for Hong Kong from Hearthstone grandmaster Chung 'blitzchung' Ng Wai and Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo came out in explicit support of Ozil, saying on Twitter that 'the truth will prevail.' Shortly after that, Belarus issued a statement on behalf of 54 nations, including Russia, Egypt, Bolivia, and Serbia, in support of China's 'counter-terrorism' program, describing the detention camps as 'vocational education and training centers.' We do not understand, accept or forgive this.'Įarlier this year, 23 nations including the US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, and Japan issued a joint statement at the United Nations condemning the Chinese government's detention and mistreatment of Uighurs and other Muslims in camps in the Xinjiang province. According to the BBC, publisher Netease has removed Ozil from all three editions of the game available in China, saying in a statement that his comments 'hurt the feelings of Chinese fans and violated the sport's spirit of love and peace.

Now the backlash has also spread to videogames, as Ozil has reportedly been cut from PES 2020 in China. Angry comments were posted, jerseys were burned, and China's state broadcaster canceled a planned airing of a game between Arsenal and Manchester City.

The tweet sparked a backlash among Chinese Arsenal fans, and Arsenal's predictable effort to distance itself from its player-'As a football club, Arsenal has always adhered to the principle of not involving itself in politics'-failed to calm the outrage. As translated by The Guardian, he wrote, ' Qurans are burned, mosques were closed down, Islamic theological schools, madrasas were banned, religious scholars were killed one by one. Arsenal star Mesut Ozil caused a stir last week when he criticized the alleged ongoing human rights abuses and persecution of Uighur Muslims by the Chinese government, and the failure of Muslims globally to adequately respond.

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