Chinese state television has made good on its threat to suspend the broadcast of La Liga matches, following comments made by Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappé about Mao Zedong, the founder of the People's Republic of China.
Agence France-Presse confirmed that the first two matches in La Liga this week were not broadcast on the state channel CCTV, which belongs to the Chinese state media group CMG.
Espanyol's 1-0 win at Villarreal on Friday evening never made it to air. Neither did Atlético Madrid's 2-0 victory over Levante on Saturday afternoon, courtesy of Diego Simeone's side.
A decision that changes the broadcasting rules
CCTV had been showing every single La Liga match live, which makes this an unusual exception, according to what the Spanish league confirmed to the French agency, as reported by Foot Mercato.
Fans could still catch Villarreal against Espanyol via the streaming platform Migu, which belongs to the Chinese telecoms operator China Mobile, itself under state control.
Repercussions that go beyond two matches
The decision comes just days after a video surfaced in which Mbappé referred to a mocking image linking his face to that of the Chinese leader Mao Zedong, whom he described as "the Chinese dictator".
His comments sparked widespread controversy in China and hit the France captain commercially. Early on Tuesday, three companies that use his name and image tore up their contracts with him, before CCTV pulled the plug on La Liga broadcasts.
That decision now covers the whole of La Liga, not just Real Madrid's matches. How long the suspension lasts remains to be seen, as does whether other Chinese channels will keep broadcasting the games.
No date has been set for the resumption of broadcasting on CCTV, according to information published by Agence France-Presse.