Following midfielder Mesut Ozil has been left out of Arsenal’s Premier League 2020-21 squad and from their Europa League plans for the season, the German international on Wednesday reacted to the glaring omission and accused Arsenal of showing lack of loyalty.
“I’m really deeply disappointed by the fact that I have not been registered for the Premier League season for the time being,” Ozil made his displeasure clear in a strongly-worded statement.
“Upon signing my new contract in 2018, I pledged my loyalty and allegiance to the club that I love, Arsenal, and it saddens me that this has not been reciprocated. As I have just found out, loyalty is hard to come by nowadays,” reads Ozil’s statement.
Ozil, who is the highest-paid player in Arsenal’s history wrote: “I will continue to train as best as I can and wherever possible use my voice against inhumanity and for justice.”
Going by Ozil’s statement where he wrote about his fight for justice, it can be said that the player is being dropped due his statement in December 2019 over the persecution of Uighur Muslims in China.
Following Ozil’s statement against Uighur genocide in China, China had pulled Arsenal’s Premier League matches while removing his name and character from video games and Arsenal had distanced themselves from Ozil’s statement on Uighur Muslims.
Mesut Ozil said he was left disappointed by his club Arsenal distancing themselves from his comments over the persecution of Uighur Muslims in China.
In August 2020, Ozil told reporters he was left disappointed by Arsenal distancing themselves from his comments over the persecution of Uighur Muslims in China.
“I have given a lot to Arsenal, on and off the pitch, so the reaction was disappointing. They said they don’t get involved in politics but this isn’t politics and they have got involved in other issues,” Arsenal midfielder Ozil said. He had also called on the club to say ‘Muslim Lives Matter’ as well as ‘Black Lives Matter’.
Ozil’s comments on Uighur Muslims and Arsenal’s response
Ozil spoke out on Instagram against China’s treatment of the Uighur population in Xinjiang last year.
The player said: “East Turkistan: the bleeding wound of the Ummah, resisting against the persecutors trying to separate them from their religion. They burn their Qurans. They shut down their mosques. They ban their schools. They kill their holy men. The men are forced into camps and their families are forced to live with Chinese men. The women are forced to marry Chinese men. But Muslims are silent. They won’t make a noise. They have abandoned them. Don’t they know that giving consent for persecution is persecution itself?”
In response, Arsenal released a statement on Chinese social media platform Weibo, which reads: “Regarding the comments made by Mesut Ozil on social media, Arsenal must make a clear statement. The content published is Ozil’s personal opinion. As a football club, Arsenal has always adhered to the principle of not involving itself in politics.”
