China has made good on its threat, wiping La Liga matches from state television screens in a move that hit Real Madrid and their French star Kylian Mbappe.
State broadcaster CCTV showed no La Liga action yesterday, Saturday, having pulled the matches off air since last Monday. The trigger was Mbappe's comments about a satirical image linked to Chinese leader Mao Zedong. The Migu platform, meanwhile, kept its coverage running.
According to Spanish newspaper "Marca", none of the La Liga fixtures scheduled for Friday and Saturday appeared on the network's channels or in its official programme schedule. Those games were Villarreal against Espanyol, Levante against Atletico Madrid, Rayo Vallecano against Celta Vigo, Real Betis against Malaga, and Barcelona against Alaves.
Sunday evening and early Monday fixtures vanished from the list too: Getafe against Sevilla, Racing Santander against Real Madrid, Elche against Valencia, and Athletic Bilbao against Real Sociedad, along with Monday's clash between Deportivo La Coruna and Osasuna.
The network's mobile app still carries some matches from the rounds before the suspension decision, the last being the Celta Vigo and Real Betis fixture on Sunday 25 October.
China's state broadcaster usually aired one or two matches per round, according to the platform's record. Yet not a single Real Madrid game from the current season or the 2025-2026 season appears in its archive, as the Spanish news agency observed.
Real Madrid vanishes from the Migu platform
Migu tells a different story. La Liga's exclusive digital partner in China from the start of this season through to 2029-2030, the streaming platform kept its weekend schedule almost entirely intact.
One exception stands out: the removal of the Racing Santander and Real Madrid match, which has yet to appear in the broadcast schedule.
Migu also shows no Real Madrid matches from the rounds before the crisis erupted, as the Spanish news agency verified.
Scroll back through August and September and the royal side simply isn't there. The results of the remaining matches remain available, along with their highlights and the option to watch the fixtures in full.
Users on social media flagged at the start of the crisis that the platform had deleted clips of Mbappe's goals from the last Clasico between Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Details of the crisis
It all began when Mbappe said in a press interview that one of his favourite satirical images shows his face superimposed on an image of a "Chinese leader". He never named Mao Zedong outright, though the leader's image featured in the design.
The French star's comments on Tuesday prompted several Chinese companies to end their commercial deals. State television then suspended La Liga matches and games involving the French striker, and pulled his adverts off air.
Mbappe apologised in French, Chinese and English. The La Liga association voiced its regret over the affair, and president Javier Tebas sent a message to China Media Group (CMG), which runs the state broadcaster.
On Wednesday, the state media institution announced it had received a message via the La Liga association in which the club joined the apology and expressed its respect for China. It stopped short of saying whether the message was enough, and gave no date for matches to return to air.
China's Foreign Ministry also sidestepped the question at the time, leaving the fate of the measures against the player and the association unclear.