August 19 – Former Senegal and English Premier League striker Demba Ba has called on football’s stakeholders to condemn China’s treatment of Uighur muslims, whatever the financial cost in terms of broadcast deals and player contracts.
More than a million Uighur are believed to have been detained without trial in prison camps on the basis of their faith and ethnicity.
China is the Premier League’s most lucrative overseas television rights territory while scores of star players have been lured to the country for huge salaries for one last career hurrah.
But Ba, who scored 43 goals in 99 appearances for West Ham, Newcastle and Chelsea, says the game has to make a stand.
“I know there are footballers who want to fight for justice, whether Muslim, Buddhist, Christian, any belief,” he said. “As sportspeople, we have a power we don’t even know. If we get together and talk, things change. If we stand up, people stand up with us.”
Footage of blindfolded Uighur prisoners being led on to trains has gone viral and Ba told the BBC: “The Black Lives Matter movement is stronger when non-black people step up for it. When are we going to see the rest of the world stand up for Muslims?”
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