(ANSA) - BEIJING, NOVEMBER 27 - Chinese state broadcaster CCTV Sports is cutting close-up shots of fans without anti-Covid masks at the Qatar soccer World Cup after early reports sparked anger in the country, where protests erupted over the harsh restrictions against the pandemic.
During the live broadcast of Sunday's Agironi match between Japan and Costa Rica, CCTV replaced close-up shots of unmasked fans with images of players, officials or the soccer stadium.
The broadcaster showed distant shots of the crowd, where it was difficult to distinguish individual faces, and fewer shots of the crowd than the indirect broadcast of the same match on online platforms such as Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok.
Tens of millions of people in major cities, including Beijing, Guangzhou and Chongqing, have been placed under a form of lockdown today.
An open letter was released on the popular messaging app WeChat to question anti-Covid policies: the text asked whether China is "on the same planet" as Qatar.
The letter, which appeared on Tuesday, was later removed by censors from the platform.
(HANDLE).