Mbappé apology lands after China drops sponsors over Mao comment

Real Madrid issued a formal apology to the Chinese public on Wednesday following a dispute over Kylian Mbappé’s comments about Mao Zedong.

The club stated it expressed its regrets for any discomfort caused by the player’s recent words. The statement emphasized the club’s deep respect for China’s history, culture, and citizens, as well as its millions of Chinese fans. Mbappé had already apologized individually, describing his comment as ill-judged.

The controversy began when an old interview with a French talkshow resurfaced online. In the clip, Mbappé discussed memes featuring his face, including one superimposed on an image of Mao. He said the meme made him laugh the most, identifying the figure as a Chinese dictator.

Commercial fallout followed quickly. Mbappé lost sponsorship deals with Eastroc Beverage and Mengniu Dairy. Swiss sportswear brand On removed all references to him from its communications in China. Chinese state television network CCTV briefly suspended coverage of La Liga matches.

Real Madrid’s scheduled Sunday match against Racing Santander will not be broadcast in China. The official Communist Party assessment of Mao, established after his death, rated him as 70 percent good and 30 percent bad. The negative aspects include the Great Leap Forward, which caused a famine killing tens of millions, and the Cultural Revolution, a decade-long purge that led to children denouncing parents.

Despite the mixed official assessment, Mao remains revered in China. His portrait overlooks Tiananmen Square in Beijing as the leader of the revolution that founded the communist state. When the remark spread, social media sites like Weibo erupted with calls for an apology. Most commenters likely did not hear the original French interview, as it was not repeated in Chinese media.

Only users with a virtual private network to bypass the Great Firewall could access the clip. Nevertheless, many perceived the comment as disrespect toward a country where Mbappé had been a popular figure until this week. Posts on Weibo criticized the star for earning money in China while disparaging it. One post noted that the market welcomes world-class stars but not the arrogance of those who eat from the pot and then smash it.

This incident marks the fourth controversy involving Real Madrid in two years where remarks hurt the feelings of the Chinese people. It follows a 2019 dispute when Houston Rockets manager Daryl Morey praised pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong. That event led to an 18-month Chinese television boycott of the NBA. The pattern reflects the sensitivity of a population that has moved swiftly from poverty to relative prosperity.