China continues to punish La Liga despite Mbappe's apology

Real Madrid striker's comments provoke the anger of the Chinese authorities

Chinese state television blacked out the first two matches of the current round (11) of the Spanish League, days after announcing it would suspend broadcasts of the competition over comments by Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappé about former Chinese leader Mao Zedong.

The CCTV public channel network, part of the Chinese state media group CMG, dropped the match between Villarreal and Espanyol, the first fixture on the schedule since Tuesday's suspension announcement.

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That game kicked off on Friday evening in Spain and was available on Migu, an online streaming service owned by China Mobile, the state-controlled telecommunications firm, as Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalists noted.

Saturday's clash between Atlético Madrid and Levante, which started at 13:00 GMT, also failed to appear on CCTV. Neither fixture featured in the channel's announced broadcast schedule.

Until now, according to the Spanish League association, Chinese television had shown every one of the competition's matches live, the body told AFP.

The crisis traces back to a video clip from the programme "The Bridge", in which Mbappé reacted to a mocking image that placed his face over pictures of Mao Zedong and branded the former Chinese leader a "Chinese dictator".

Chinese companies tore up their contracts with the player as the row escalated. Apologies followed from both the Spanish League association and Mbappé himself, who said he was "sincerely sorry" and called his comments "inappropriate". China, in turn, said it was taking the apologies "seriously".

Even so, Chinese state television kept the Spanish League off air, according to the French newspaper "L'Équipe".