As he continues to be frozen out at Arsenal, speculation has grown that comments midfielder Mesut Ozil made about human rights abuses in China may be the reason he has been sent into exile by Mikel Arteta.
Ozil was left out of both Arteta’s Europa and Premier League squads recently, with speculation that Arsenal’s one time assist king might never kick the ball for the Gunners.
Speculation from some quarters suggests that Ozil is being punished for his actions off the field rather than anything that he did on it.
“I can promise you that this hard decision won’t change anything in my mindset,” said Ozil in a statement this week.
“I will continue to train as best as I can and wherever possible use my voice against inhumanity and for justice.”
That last line was all that some fans needed to confirm that the German playmaker had been sidelined because of the stance he took on social justice.
In a long message to his 24 million followers last year, the Arsenal star called on Uyghur “warriors to resist persecution.”
In addition to his calls for resistance, he also highlighted reports of detention camps and restrictions on Islam in the region as well as the world media’s failure to shine a light on the situation.
“Qur’an are burned, mosques are closed, madrasas are banned, and religious scholars are killed one by one,” he wrote. “The brothers are forced into camps. Chinese men are settled in their families instead of them. The sisters are forced to marry Chinese men.”
Arsenal then distanced itself from the midfielder’s comments, stating that the post was Ozil’s “personal opinion” was not the view of the club and that “Arsenal as a football club has always adhered to the principle of not involving [itself in] politics.”
Arsenal were not the first club to backtrack in the face of a backlash from Beijing, with the Houston Rockets and the NBA both left commercially handicapped in China after Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted his support for the ongoing protests in Hong Kong.
Football pundit, Guillem Balague disputes the assertion that Ozil is being sidelined for non-footballing reasons.
“I find the suggestion that Ozil has been moved aside for his political stance an intentional distraction and very convenient. He has played and has been called up since he made his comments on China and the Uighur Muslims. You have to look at the bigger picture [in footballing terms].
“Why have the last two managers struggled to find a way to fit him in? He is talented, no doubt, but talent is not enough in the elite.
“You have to be committed, interested, follow instructions on the pitch, work hard in training and in the games, with and without the ball, have faith in the group and in the leader… all that is necessary.”