Mbappe-China controversy — State TV doesn’t air first La Liga games since Frenchman’s comments

Chinese broadcaster CCTV skipped La Liga fixtures after Kylian Mbappe remark on Mao Zedong, even as apologies came in from the French forward.

Updated : Oct 31, 2026 21:37 IST , Beijing - 3 MINS READ

Dongpeng Beverage Group’s “Bushuila” electrolyte drinks, with Kylian Mbappe on the packaging, at a Beijing convenience store on October 27, 2026, as major Chinese brands cancelled sponsorship deals with the Real Madrid star over a viral video of him joking about Mao Zedong. | Photo Credit: AFP

La Liga matches on Saturday were missing from Chinese state television, the first fixtures since Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappe stirred anger with a quip about the country’s late leader Mao Zedong.

Whether broadcaster CCTV had lined up the games and then pulled them, or never put them on the schedule, was not immediately known.

A video that spread widely in recent days showed Mbappe describing Mao as a “dictator.” The body that supervises CCTV responded by saying it would stop airing Spain’s top division.

Mbappe, Real and La Liga each later apologised, and China’s Foreign Ministry said it took the player’s apology “seriously.”

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Even so, CCTV’s sports channels did not carry Villarreal’s 1-0 loss to Espanyol or Atletico Madrid’s win over Levante on Saturday.

Three further matches are scheduled overnight in China, including one featuring Barcelona, who have a big following in the country.

When, asked before the weekend, La Liga said Chinese television had earlier broadcast every game live, but it did not say which platforms carried them.

The reporters did locate live streams of the first two fixtures on Migu, a digital streaming service run by China Mobile, a state owned telecom operator.

China Media Group (CMG), the organisation that oversees CCTV, said on Monday that it had moved to suspend La Liga broadcast. It added that apologies from La Liga, Mbappe and Real Madrid were “an absolute prerequisite” for putting the row behind them.

In the clip, Mbappe said the funniest internet meme of himself that he had come across showed his face photo-shopped onto that of “some guy -- I think he’s a Chinese dictator.”

This seemed to point to a meme in which Mbappe is superimposed on a picture of Mao.

Mbappe subsequently expressed regret for his “ill-judged” comments. La Liga said it “deeply” regretted them, and Real did likewise.

CCTV’s sports website later reported that CMG had noted the apologies, though it is still uncertain whether discussions to ease the standoff have started.

China is a vast market for European football. CCTV also shows games from the Premier League and the top divisions in Germany, France and Italy.

Real, which enjoys enormous popularity there, faces Racing Santander on Sunday.

On Saturday, Real’s coach Jose Mourinho said the club had “done our part” to leave the controversy behind.

Joking about Mao is taboo in China. He died in 1976, and historians blame his sweeping policies for mass starvation and millions of deaths.

Leading Chinese brands ended their sponsorship agreements with Mbappe following his remarks.

Overseas sports leagues and athletes have repeatedly landed in trouble over comments on subjects that are politically sensitive in China.

China effectively severed ties with the NBA for several years from 2019, after Daryl Morey, then general manager of the Houston Rockets, tweeted support for Hong Kong protesters.