The Real Madrid match was cancelled by the State Broadcaster of China Due to a Joke About Mbappé
China’s national broadcaster CCTV declined to air a Real Madrid match on Sunday despite the club’s star striker Kylian Mbappe apologising for his “ill-judged” comments on late Chinese leader Mao Zedong.
Mbappé faced major backlash after admitting the meme “that makes [him] laugh the most” is the one in which he has had his face superimposed on a “Chinese dictator” who looks like Mao.
China Media Group, the parent organization of CCTV, said last Tuesday it will stop broadcasting Spanish football La Liga matches after the furor, which also saw other Chinese firms oust Mbappé.
Mbappé’s apology was taken “seriously” by China’s foreign ministry. Real Madrid and La Liga have also issued apologies.
China Media Group had earlier asked for apologies from the three parties, calling them a “absolute prerequisite” to move past the situation. It has accepted the apologies, but has not said how long the broadcast block will stay.
Mbappé, who apparently said the meme thing on French chat show The Bridge, later apologised on Tuesday.Mao, who formed the People’s Republic of China after leading the Chinese Communist Party to victory in the civil war, died in 1976.
Under his leadership came the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, a famine that killed tens of millions and harsh purges across Chinese society.
This is not the first time that Beijing has pulled sports broadcasts over political sensitivities.”My comment was ill-judged and I now understand it hurt many people in China and in Chinese communities around the world,” he had stated.
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