A scheduled live television broadcast Sunday of an English Premier League match was canceled by a Chinese state-run network after comments by Mesut Özil, the star of one of the featured teams, criticized the country for its treatment of Muslims. The back-and-forth between Özil and representatives of Arsenal and the Chinese government is just the latest tension encountered by behemoth pro sports leagues doing business in China, following weeks of controversy after an NBA executive expressed support for protesters in Hong Kong.
Sunday’s match between Manchester City and Arsenal, which has a large following and extensive commercial interests in China, was preempted after social media posts by Özil, a German Muslim who is of Turkish heritage.