Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil has been deleted from Chinese versions of the popular Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) 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 it removed Ozil from the game due to his “extreme comment about China.”

Ozil, a German national of Turkish origin, condemned China’s crackdown on Muslim minorities in the western region of Xinjiang in a tweet last Friday and criticised Muslim countries for failing to speak up about the alleged abuses.

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

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.

Rights groups and experts say more than one million Uighurs and other mostly Muslim minorities have been incarcerated, part of a long-term government response to tame years of persistent violent unrest against Beijing’s control of Xinjiang.

Ozil had tweeted in Turkish: “Korans are being burnt… Mosques are being shut down… Muslim schools are being banned… Religious scholars are being killed one by one… Brothers are forcefully being sent to camps.”

“The Muslims are silent. Their voice is not heard,” he wrote against a blue backdrop with a white crescent moon — the flag of ‘East Turkestan’, the term many Uighur separatists use for Xinjiang.

Shortly afterward, NetEase announced on its verified 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 at first denied that the camps existed but, under growing pressure, later acknowledged them, saying they were vocational training centres.

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

In a similar episode, China moved in October to punish the NBA’s Houston Rockets after its 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 this week.

“China’s Communist Party propaganda outlets can censor @MesutOzil1088 and @Arsenal’s games all season long, but the truth will prevail,” Pompeo 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.

Source: AFP

Anthony Joshua has offered to be Tyson Fury’s sparring partner if it helps his fellow British fighter beat WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder.

Joshua has been left frustrated in his attempts to lure America’s Wilder into the ring as he bids to unify the division following his victory over Andy Ruiz Jr last weekend.

The 30-year-old, who regained the WBA, IBF and WBO belts, feels he has a better chance of landing a blockbuster unification showdown with Fury than with Wilder.

Fury faces a re-match with the American on February 22, having drawn their first encounter, and Joshua told Sky Sports News: “I think honestly he might beat Wilder next time.

“I think Fury would fight me quicker than Wilder would, so, if that’s the case, I want him to win. Imagine that fight on British soil.

“If Tyson needs me, I’ll go out and spar with him to get him ready for Wilder.”

Joshua remains desperate for a showdown with Wilder that would see both men attempt to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis.

“It still puzzles me as to why it’s so difficult to pin this man down,” Joshua said. “This is the man I need to pin down to get the last ring and conquer this division.”

“You’ve got the two lords of the rings here,” he added. “The last one to unify, undisputed, the division. I’ve got four (including the IBO belt), he’s got one. I just need one more.”

Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev is the IBF’s next mandatory challenger for Joshua, while the WBO has ordered the Londoner to fight Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk.

And speaking about a potential third meeting with Ruiz Jr, the Mexican-American who stunned the boxing world by beating Joshua in June, the British boxer said: “One trillion per cent.

“I always said I’d fight him in Tijuana, with his uncle as referee. Me and Andy will soon see each other in the ring again.”

Source: AFP

Chinese state media warned Monday that Mesut Ozil’s criticism of the country’s treatment of its Uighurs will have “serious implications” for Arsenal, stirring a backlash that saw the English football club’s weekend match pulled from Chinese TV.

A Global Times editorial slammed what it called a “clownish performance” from Ozil, describing him as “confused” and “reckless” and saying he had abused his position as a public figure.

Ozil, a German national 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 failing to speak up about the alleged abuses. Arsenal has distanced itself from his comments.

The row, which has potential repercussions for Arsenal and the Premier League in the lucrative Chinese market, follows the opprobrium heaped on basketball’s NBA in October after Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted his support for Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters.

The response to Ozil’s criticism has been swift in China. On Sunday, state broadcaster CCTV pulled the live Premier League game between Arsenal and Manchester City from its programming.

Leading streaming service PPTV also appeared to have cancelled its screening of the match, which Arsenal lost 3-0.

In its editorial, the Global Times — one of the ruling Communist Party’s mouthpieces — accused the 31-year-old Ozil of being “a person who is confused, reckless in abusing (his) influence, easily incited and willing to incite others”.

“Ozil’s move has ruined his image among Chinese fans and will have serious implications for Arsenal,” warned the newspaper.

“Chinese people should see clearly that what Ozil did this time was a ‘clownish performance’.”

– ‘Hurt Chinese feelings’ –

The English-language edition of the Global Times carried a statement from the Chinese Football Association saying that “Ozil’s comments not only hurt his Chinese fans but also hurt the feelings of the Chinese people”.

China has faced growing international condemnation for setting up a vast network of camps in Xinjiang aimed at homogenising the Uighur population to reflect China’s majority Han culture.

Rights groups and experts say more than one million Uighurs and people of other mostly Muslim ethnic minorities have been sent to the camps in the tightly controlled region.

“Korans are being burnt… Mosques are being shut down… Muslim schools are being banned… Religious scholars are being killed one by one… Brothers are forcefully being sent to camps,” Ozil tweeted in Turkish.

“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 ‘East Turkestan’, the term many Uighur separatists use for Xinjiang.

Arsenal posted on Weibo, China’s leading social media platform, that the comments were “Ozil’s personal opinion”, adding that the club had a policy of “not involving itself in politics”.

But some Weibo users expressed delight at the team’s heavy home defeat to City, which left the London club ninth in the Premier League.

Ozil played for only an hour before being substituted to boos over his performance in the match.

“I’m an Arsenal fan and today I cheered for City’s victory,” posted one user.

“Manchester City is a good friend of the Chinese people,” added another.

Source: AFP

Britain has one of the worlds most renowned and watched football competitions in the form of the Premier League. With billions of pounds invested in the sport by multiple backers from multiple nations, it is a dominant force to be reckoned with on the pitch, however, can football influence politics?

Arsenal footballer, Mesut Ozil, has caused uproar in China after Tweeting comments regarding the Uighur Muslims in China. Ozil, himself a Muslim, has broken ranks with the protocol of mixing opinion with sport, and as such, China has removed the scheduled game between Arsenal and Manchester City today from their airtime.

Arsenal were quick to distance themselves from the controversial comments made by Ozil, stating that the club will always remain an apolitical organisation, the Global Times described Ozil’s comments as false, and the Chinese, who have a large Arsenal fan base, both in China and abroad, have been left disappointed by the Germany star’s unprecedented comments.

Sports personalities have caused further controversy in the past, notably in the US where the Houston Rockets manager, Darly Morey, caused tensions by Tweeting his support for the Hong Kong protesters. This again sparked a backlash from the Chinese, who again questioned why a sporting icon should involve himself in politics.

The underlying notion behind this involvement may be deeper than first meets the eye. The UK are bitterly sore at losing Hong Kong to the Chinese, and further more, the UK’s reliance on China, is far greater than China’s reliance on the UK.

Hence, from every possible angle, from sport to sympathy with protestors, from human rights to criticism of the Chinese military, the UK is doing is upmost to smear China, and albeit from a football star playing for Arsenal, the UK has once again come under the spotlight as it unofficially agitates the waves of social media from within.

Culled from Presstv

Tiger Woods has won 15 majors and a record 82 US PGA Tour events all over the world but the US superstar admitted Sunday there was something extra special in winning the Presidents Cup.

Woods became only the second playing-captain to lift the biennial matchplay trophy after Hale Irwin in the inaugural Presidents Cup in 1994, juggling both roles seamlessly.

The 43-year-old won all three matches he played, skipping only the Saturday fourballs and foursomes to focus solely on his captaincy duties.

Competing in his ninth Presidents Cup, Woods said it was an emotional moment when he realised all the hard work had paid off as his team edged Ernie Els’ Internationals 16-14 at Royal Melbourne after a stirring comeback.

“I’ve been a part of teams before where we have won. Also been a part of, unfortunately, this Presidents Cup when we lost 21 years ago,” he said, referring to the US team’s only defeat in 1998, also in Melbourne.

“So to come here and to do it in this fashion, to do it with this team, in particular, it was an honour for me as a player and even more of an honour to be their captain.

“I’ve cried in pretty much every Cup we’ve won,” he added.

“I’ve been doing this a long time. Any time you have moments where you’re able to do something that is bigger than us as an individual, is so much more meaningful and so much more special.”

Woods went out first in the singles matches Sunday and once more led from the front, beating battling Mexican Abraham Ancer 3 and 2 as his team began to reel in the Internationals’ 10-8 overnight lead.

In doing so he passed Phil Mickelson to become the most successful Presidents Cup golfer in history with a 27-15-1 win-loss-tie record to his countryman’s 26-16-13.

Woods was keen to deflect attention from himself, insisting it was team effort despite his individual exploits.

“We did it together. We came here as a team. My teammates and my boys all played well,” he said.

“The (vice) captains did an amazing job of just being there for every little detail,” he added, referring to Fred Couples, Zach Johnson and Steve Stricker.

“I couldn’t have done it without all their help and all my boys. They did it.”

Source: AFP