Arsenal kit still on sale in China despite Özil's Uighur backlash

"FAKE NEWS"

While some young Chinese, such as student Xiong Zexin, 23, said: It is always like this. They must pay a price for this," much of the furore has centred on Ozil not the club.

"If you don't understand this matter then there's no need for you to make comments about politics. You're not a politician," student Li Yandong, 29, said.

At least five sellers on Alibaba's domestically focused e-commerce platform Taobao told Reuters that they were no longer selling jerseys emblazoned with Ozil's name and his number "10" due to the incident.

The United Nations and human rights groups estimate that between 1 million and 2 million people, mostly ethnic Uighur Muslims, have been detained in harsh conditions in Xinjiang as part of what Beijing calls an anti-terrorism campaign. China has repeatedly denied any mistreatment of Uighurs.

Ozil, a Turkish Muslim, called Uighurs "warriors who resist persecution" and criticised both China's crackdown and the silence of Muslims in response.

China's Foreign Ministry said on Monday that Ozil had been "completely decieved by fake news and false statements" and said he was welcome to visit Xinjiang.

"We also welcome Mr. Ozil to come to Xinjiang if he has the chance, to take a walk and look around, as long as he has a conscience, is able to distinguish right from wrong and uphold the principles of objectivity and fairness, he will see a different Xinjiang," its statement said.

An executive at another Chinese broadcaster, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the situation, said CCTV and PPTV's reactions were to be expected given the precedence set by the NBA, but said the timing and fact that Arsenal was British, and not American, could give it some leeway.

"The Arsenal incident is quite different from the NBA incident, because that happened just after (China's) National Day, when patriotic feelings were high," he said.

Still the Global Times, which is vocal in its criticism of companies whose behaviour displeases Beijing, warned that Arsenal could still face further blowback. The newspaper's stance does not necessarily reflect Chinese government policy.

"The episode has destroyed Ozil's image and Arsenal and the Premier League may have to pay the price," the Global Times said on its official Twitter account.