China's blacklisting of Arsenal's Mesut Ozil is continuing, with commentators refusing to say his name during their broadcast of the Gunners' 1-1 draw with Bournemouth.
Ozil spoke out strongly against China's persecution of the Muslim Uighur community of Xinjiang and slammed Muslims for not doing more to highlight the issue.
As a result of his comments, Arsenal's visit of Manchester City was pulled from TV channel CCTV in China and according to The Athletic, his 30,000-strong M10 fan club in the country has been shut down, while his pages on Chinese social media sites Weibo and Douyin have been wiped.
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As per the Daily Mail, there was absolutely not any mention of the German during Mikel Arteta's first game in charge. His name was not read out pre-match for the starting XI, he wasn't talked about whenever he was on the ball and even when was taken off in the second half.
Ozil has essentially been deleted by the country. Baidu, one of the main search engines in the country, have completely erased him.
According to The Global Times, the Chinese FA said: "Ozil's comments not only hurt his Chinese fans but also hurt the feelings of the Chinese people."
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The former Real Madrid man has also been removed from China's version of Pro Evolution Soccer 2020.
Arsenal released a statement distancing themselves from Ozil's viewpoints, saying: "Regarding the comments made by Mesut Ozil on social media, Arsenal must make a clear statement," the statement read.
"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."
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