China: Premier League broadcast canceled by CCTV for diplomatic reasons

The Chinese public broadcaster CCTV cancelled the broadcast of Liverpool FC - Chelsea FC (5-3), Matchday 37 of the 2019-20 Premier League, originally scheduled on CCTV5, on the night of 22-23/07/2020 (kick-off at 20:15 BST, 03:15 in Beijing).

This deprogramming is due to diplomatic and trade tensions between the United Kingdom and China, according to American and British media. The UK government banned the Chinese smartphone manufacturer Huawei's deployment of 5G in the British market on 14/07/2020 and suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong in response to China's imposition of a controversial security law in the former British colony on 20/07/2020.

No matches from Matchday 38, the final matchday of the 2019-20 Premier League season, will be broadcast on CCTV according to the American media company Bloomberg. Leicester City FC - Manchester United FC, on Matchday 38, is however, currently (as of 23/07/2020) still due to be broadcast on the sports channel CCTV 5 Plus.

CCTV was broadcasting two live Premier League games per macthday on its channel CCTV 5 and two other matches via…