China’s Arsenal blackout highlights Premier League’s ethics problem
Özil’s Uighur comments have angered China, but the world’s most famous league has remained tight-lipped so far
Across the street from the Workers’ Stadium in Beijing, the venue of Arsenal’s first ever match in China in 1995, shoppers at an Adidas store ignore a rack of puffer jackets, football shirts and backpacks bearing the football club’s name.
One, inspecting a range of Adidas clothing released for Chinese New Year, says he had once been a fan of Arsenal’s Mesut Özil, but since the star midfielder had condemned China’s treatment of the country’s Uighur people, he has changed his mind.