Doha (AFP)

Former Arsenal coach and now director of FIFA world football development, Arsène Wenger, has defended Mesut Özil following remarks by the Gunners midfielder on the situation of the Uyghurs, a Muslim minority in China.

"Mesut enjoys freedom of expression like any other person. He uses his notoriety to express his opinions, which are not necessarily shared by everyone, but he has the right to do so," Wenger said in Doha. (Qatar) Wednesday.

In a tweet posted on December 13, the 2014 world champion with Germany violently denounced the "silence" of Muslim countries on the current situation in Xinjiang, a region in northwest China where Beijing is suspected of interning a million Muslims.

As a direct consequence of this position, the CCTV, Chinese state television, had purely and simply chosen to de-program from its antenna the meeting opposing Arsenal to Manchester City Sunday in the Premier League.

If the London club quickly distanced itself from the "personal opinion" of its playmaker, the Chinese media quickly announced that these words would have "important implications", especially in economic terms, for Arsenal.

"When you express your personal opinion, you have to accept the consequences," added Wenger. "But it is the individual responsibility of Mesut Özil who is engaged, he does not speak on behalf of Arsenal".

Faced with the controversy, the Chinese government estimated that Özil had been "deceived by false information" and encouraged him to come and visit the Xinjiang region.

Before that of Arsène Wenger, his former trainer, Mesut Özil had already received another support, to say the least unexpected: that of Mike Pompeo, head of American diplomacy.

"The Chinese Communist Party's propaganda organs can censor the matches of Mesut Özil and Arsenal all season long, the truth will ultimately triumph," the US secretary of state tweeted. The CCP cannot hide from the rest of the world its grave human rights violations against Uighurs and other religions. "

Last October, another tweet in support of pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong from Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey had already set fire to the powder between the Chinese authorities and the NBA.

© 2019 AFP