A promise is a debt: China erased LaLiga broadcasts following Mbappé's statements

The impact of a statement can reach much further than expected, even to the point of altering a country's sports programming. This happened with Kylian Mbappé in China, where a comment about a meme related to Mao Zedong provoked a strong reaction and led to the suspension of LaLiga broadcasts by state television. A week after the controversy began, the apologies from the footballer and the involved institutions still did not manage to reverse the measure.

This Saturday, the CCTV network again excluded all matches of the Spanish championship scheduled for the weekend from its lineup. According to the EFE agency, the matches Villarreal-Espanyol, Levante-Atlético de Madrid, Rayo Vallecano-Celta de Vigo, Betis-Málaga, and Barcelona-Alavés were not broadcast nor appeared in the official programming. The absence also extended to the commitments scheduled for Sunday night and early Monday morning, including Racing de Santander-Real Madrid and Athletic Club-Real Sociedad.

The restriction can also be observed in the CCTV mobile app, where some matches from previous rounds before the suspension are still available, with the most recent being Celta-Betis from October 25. Additionally, according to records consulted by EFE, there are no matches of Real Madrid from either the current season or the 2025/26 season, despite the fact that the network usually broadcast one or two matches per date.

The scenario is different on Migu, the streaming platform that holds the exclusive digital rights to LaLiga in China until the 2029/30 season. The service maintained almost all of its usual programming over the weekend, although the match between Racing de Santander and Real Madrid was also not listed in its schedule. Furthermore, it does not offer previous matches of the Madrid team, while it does retain results, summaries, and complete replays of other teams.

In the early days of the conflict, social media users also noted that Migu removed videos of Mbappé's goals from the last classic between Real Madrid and Barcelona. Thus, the restrictions do not seem to be limited solely to state television broadcasts, but also reached content specifically related to the French forward.

The origin of the controversy

The controversy began in an interview where Mbappé mentioned one of his favorite memes, which showed his face superimposed on that of a "Chinese dictator". Although he did not explicitly mention Mao Zedong, the image referred to the historic leader of the People's Republic of China and generated a negative reaction among various sectors of society in the Asian country.

The repercussions did not take long to appear. Several Chinese companies broke their commercial agreements with the footballer and CCTV announced the suspension of LaLiga broadcasts, content related to the forward, and the advertising campaigns in which he participated.

Given the magnitude of the episode, Mbappé published an apology message in French, Chinese, and English, in which he acknowledged the impact of his words and expressed his respect for the Asian country. "In a recent interview, I reacted to a photo of myself posing. That comment was a slip, and I understand today that it has hurt many people in China and within the Chinese community worldwide. I apologize to all those who were offended by my words. It was never my intention. I have a deep respect for the Chinese people and their history, and I sincerely regret it", he expressed.

For its part, LaLiga also regretted the offense caused to fans in the Asian country, while its president, Javier Tebas, sent a letter to the China Media Group (CMG). In the same vein, Real Madrid issued a statement apologizing for the discomfort caused and reaffirmed its respect for the Chinese people, their culture, and their fans.

One day after the incident, CMG confirmed that it received, through LaLiga, a communication in which the club also expressed its apologies and respect for the country. However, it did not clarify whether it considered those gestures sufficient nor announced a date to restore broadcasts. Similarly, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs avoided specifying whether there would be changes to the measures adopted.

For now, state television maintains its decision and Spanish football continues to be absent from its programming. Meanwhile, Migu retains a good part of the usual offering, although the absence of content from Real Madrid and its main figure shows that the apologies have not yet been enough to fully normalize the situation.