Arsenal Warned that China Media Blackout will Continue until Club Apologises over Mesut Ozil Remarks

• 12.17.2019, 10:45
•  Asia,  World

Hannah McKay/Reuters

Arsenal have been warned China is set to maintain its state-sponsored media blackout against the club unless executives apologise over the Mesut Ozil Instagram furore, The Telegraph reports.

Club officials have so far distanced themselves from the midielder's social media statement, which criticises the country's treatment of Uighurs in the north-western region of Xinjiang.

One Premier League club executive with experience of handling China believes the club will need to swallow its pride to stop the diplomatic spat from escalating. "The only clear way out of this is an apology on the Arsenal club website, whether they mean it or not," the source said. "This is a cultural issue and the Chinese feel slighted."

Both Ozil and the club were on Monday counting the commercial cost of the midfielder's outburst. Amid mounting outrage from the Chinese, Arsenal's Premier League defeat to Manchester City on Sunday was removed from Chinese state television and yesterday Ozil's social media accounts were blocked. His China-based “M10” fan club - with around 30,000 members - was also shut down and Chinese search engines were ordered to delete his name.