China's state TV removes Arsenal-Manchester City game from schedule following Mesut Ozil remarks

China's state broadcaster CCTV has removed the Arsenal-Manchester City game from its schedule on Sunday following comments made by Gunners midfielder Mesut Ozil on Friday, according to reports.

China pulls live coverage of the game after Ozil comments on Uighur Muslim situation in the country

The German playmaker irked the Chinese government when he took to social media to address the treatment of Uighur Muslims in the country on Friday. Ozil slammed the reported mistreatment of the Turk-speaking minority in the north-western region of Xinjiang and the lack of response from the Muslim community across the world.

#HayırlıCumalarDoğuTürkistan 🙏🏼 pic.twitter.com/dJgeK4KSIk

— Mesut Özil (@MesutOzil1088) December 13, 2019

Arsenal have since distanced themselves from the remarks, releasing a statement on China's Twitter-like platform, Weibo.

"The content he expressed is entirely Ozil's personal opinion. As a football club, Arsenal always adheres to the principle of not being involved in politics." (via Sky Sports)

China's national English language newspaper, The Global Times, has now revealed that CCTV has decided to pull the live coverage of Arsenal's game against Manchester City at 4:30 pm UK time on Sunday, replacing it with the match between Tottenham Hotspur and Wolverhampton Wanderers instead.

China has persistently denied claims of the mistreatment of Uighur Muslims in the country as part of what Beijing calls an anti-terrorism campaign.