China scrubs maskless crowds from World Cup broadcasts

Fans cheer before the World Cup group A soccer match between the Netherlands and Qatar, at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor , Qatar, Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2022. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)The Chinese government is going to great pains to remove maskless World Cup crowds from its domestic broadcasts of the soccer tournament.

China Central Television, the state-owned broadcaster, is airing games on a 30-second delay so it can scrub most of the crowd shots that show nary a mask in sight and would challenge the government’s zero-COVID policies, according to Fortune Magazine.

The censors are spotlighting images of players, managers and team benches to avoid any alternatives to the Chinese Communist Party’s…