China denies removing Premier League matches amid tensions with UK
Retaliation over Huawei could be bad news for Chinese-owned clubs in the UK such as Wolves, Southampton and West Brom
Thursday 23 July 2020 17:39, UK
Chinese state media has denied that Premier League games are being removed from television because of worsening relations between its government and the UK.
Wednesday night's game between Liverpool and Chelsea was due to be shown on the main sports channel of the state broadcaster CCTV, but it was broadcast instead on the less popular digital channel CCTV Sports Plus.
Sunday's game between Leicester City and Manchester United has also now been switched to the same channel.
State media in China are reporting that the games could have been moved for viewership or broadcast reasons and other theories are "undoubtedly false".
It is a sign of how big a global business football has become that the UK government's decision to ban Huawei from the UK's 5G network could have a big impact on several Premier League and Championship clubs.
China has said their will be consequences for the UK and state media in Beijing has called for "painful and public retaliation".
China's relations with the UK have also been strained by major disagreements over Hong Kong and the imposition of a controversial new security law in the former British colony.
It all points to a looming trade war between the two countries and China is expected to introduce more restrictions on its companies and citizens investing in UK businesses.
That could be bad news for Chinese-owned clubs in the UK such as Wolves, Southampton, West Bromwich Albion, Birmingham City and Reading.
The NBA was taken off Chinese TV last year after the Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey expressed his support for pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong via social media.
The Chinese Super League is restarting on Saturday with a game between Guangzhou Evergrande and Shanghai Shenhua. The 16 teams have been split into two groups and games will be played over two months in Dalian and Suzhou. All games will be shown free online by PP Sports.
