Arsenal star Mesut Ozil caused a bit of a storm last week after criticising China’s officials.
The midfielder has been placed in a difficult position at Arsenal, according to The Athletic. The Gunners playmaker caused controversy last week when he posted a tweet criticising China’s treatment of Uighur Muslims, angering Chinese officials.
The Uighurs are a mostly Muslim minority group, about 11 million of whom live in western China’s Xinjiang region.
The country has been widely accused of throwing Uighurs in high security jails without trial.
Meanwhile, former prisoners have told the BBC of physical and psychological torture they allegedly suffered.
But Geng Shuang, China’s foreign minister, said the German midfielder has been “influenced by untruthful remarks”
Geng said: “I don’t know if Mr Ozil has been to Xinjiang himself – but it seems he has been deceived by fake news, and that his judgment was influenced by untruthful remarks.
“If Mr Ozil has the opportunity, we will be pleased to see him go to Xinjiang and have a look.”
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