Arsenal has distanced itself from comments made by its star midfielder Mesut Ozil about the plight of Uighur Muslims.

Axar.az reports citing Sky News that Ozil had criticized China amid allegations that the minority has suffered religious and ethnic persecution at the hands of Chinese authorities.

In a post on Instagram, the footballer had written: "(In China) Qurans are burned, mosques were closed down, Islamic theological schools, madrasas were banned, religious scholars were killed one by one. Despite all this, Muslims stay quiet."