Shanghai (AFP)
The NBA confirmed Thursday an exhibition match scheduled for Shanghai the same day, despite the current crisis between the North American Basketball League and China after a controversial tweet about Hong Kong.
"The match will take place," an AFB representative told AFP about a meeting between the Brooklyn Nets and the Los Angeles Lakers scheduled at 7:30 pm local time (11:30 GMT).
The official account of the North American Basketball League on the Chinese social network Weibo also released Thursday late morning a message announcing the holding of the event.
The crisis between China and the NBA began last Friday after a tweet from the general manager of the Houston Rockets' Texas franchise, Daryl Morey, who expressed support for the Hong Kong protesters.
Hong Kong, former British colony returned to China in 1997 and now autonomous territory, has been shaken since June by increasingly violent protests that require including more civil liberties and autonomy.
The government and many Chinese Internet users have expressed their dissatisfaction after Mr Morey's tweet, perceived as an interference and a challenge to the territorial integrity of the country.
Since then, CCTV public television and Chinese internet giant Tencent have canceled the broadcast of two exhibition games in China between the Nets and the Lakers - the one scheduled for Thursday night, and another announced for Saturday in Shenzhen ( South).
Severe criticism from the Chinese Foreign Ministry and remarks by NBA boss Adam Silver, defending the Rockets leader's freedom of expression and refusing to apologize, have poisoned the situation.
The NBA is very popular in China, and the Asian country represents for the North American basketball league a multi-billion dollar market.
The fate of the second exhibition match scheduled for Saturday in Shenzhen is currently unknown.
© 2019 AFP