Chinese state television did not air on Saturday the first La Liga games since Real Madrid star Kylian Mbappe caused anger with a joke about the country’s former leader Mao Zedong. It was not immediately clear whether state broadcaster CCTV had scheduled screenings of the matches and then cancelled them, or whether they were not scheduled in the first place.
A viral video in recent days showed Mbappe referring to Mao as a “dictator”, prompting the body overseeing CCTV to say it would halt broadcasts of the top Spanish league.
China is a huge market for European football, with CCTV also carrying matches from the Premier League as well as the German, French and Italian top flights.
Mbappe, Real and La Liga later all said sorry for his remarks, and China’s foreign ministry said it took the player’s apology “seriously”. Asked by AFP before the weekend, La Liga said that Chinese television had previously shown all games live, without specifying which platforms hosted the broadcasts. China Media Group (CMG), which oversees CCTV, had said it had moved on Monday to suspend La Liga broadcasts, adding that apologies from La Liga, Mbappe and Real Madrid were “an absolute prerequisite” for moving past the furore. Mbappe later apologised for his “ill-judged” comments, La Liga said it “deeply” regretted them, and Real followed suit. Real coach Jose Mourinho said on Saturday that the club had “done our part” to put the controversy behind them.
