Mbappe's Mao remarks still costing La Liga: Real Madrid match kept off Chinese state TV despite apologies

Real Madrid's Spanish league match against Racing Santander was not broadcast on Chinese state television, as La Liga continues to pay the price of the fallout from Kylian Mbappe's remarks about the country's former leader Mao Zedong — despite apologies from Mbappe, Real Madrid and La Liga.

Neither of the two sports channels on the Chinese state broadcaster CCTV aired Real Madrid's match on Sunday. The match kicked off at 15:15 GMT but was not broadcast on either channel, according to the AFP news agency. None of the other matches from matchweek 11 of La Liga has been broadcast live on public television so far.

Mbappe referred to Mao as a 'dictator' in a video from April that went viral recently. The viral video showed Mbappe saying the funniest internet meme he had seen about himself was of his face photoshopped onto that of 'some guy. I think he's a Chinese dictator' — an apparent reference to a meme of Mbappe superimposed on an image of Mao.

It is taboo in China to crack jokes about Mao, who died in 1976 and whose policies are blamed by historians for mass starvation and millions of deaths. The remarks caused a furore in the country, where millions follow the Spanish league, and major Chinese brands cancelled sponsorship deals with Mbappe.

Mbappe later apologised for his 'ill-judged' comments. La Liga said it 'deeply' regretted them, and Real Madrid followed suit. China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it took the player's apology 'seriously'.

The China Media Group (CMG), which oversees CCTV, had said it suspended La Liga broadcasts on October 26, adding that apologies from La Liga, Mbappe and Real Madrid were 'an absolute prerequisite' for moving past the furore. CCTV's sports website later reported that CMG had acknowledged the apologies, but it remained unclear whether talks to defuse the situation have begun. Al Jazeera reached out to La Liga for comment but had not received a response by the time of publication.

La Liga matches were broadcast on Migu, a digital streaming service owned by the state-owned China Mobile telecommunications network, according to reports. The broadcast included Barcelona's 6-1 win over Alaves on Saturday, but the Racing Santander-Real Madrid match did not appear to be shown.

Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho said on Saturday that the club had 'done our part' to put the controversy behind it.

China is a huge market for European football. CCTV also carries matches from the English Premier League and the German, French and Italian top flights. Various overseas sports leagues and players have found themselves in hot water before over comments on politically sensitive topics in China: China essentially cut ties with the NBA for several years from 2019 after then-Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted his support for Hong Kong protesters.