Kylian Mbappé has apologised after three Chinese brands ended their sponsorship deals with the Real Madrid forward on Tuesday, following a backlash over alleged remarks in a YouTube interview. La Liga also issued an apology to Chinese fans, while Chinese state broadcaster CCTV has reportedly stopped showing the league’s matches.
Energy drink maker Dongpeng, dairy giant Mengniu and cheese maker Milkground all announced on Tuesday that they were cutting ties with the France captain. Dongpeng said: “Effective immediately, we are terminating all cooperation with Kylian Mbappé.” Mengniu said it “firmly opposes and has a zero-tolerance policy towards any words or actions that hurt the feelings of the Chinese people”.
La Liga apologised first, and Mbappé followed with a statement of his own shortly afterwards. “During a recent interview, I reacted to an image featuring myself,” he said. “My comment was ill-judged and I now understand that it hurt many people in China and in Chinese communities around the world. I apologise to everyone my words have upset. That was absolutely not my intention. I have deep respect for the Chinese people and their history and I am sincerely sorry.”
La Liga said it “deeply regrets the offence caused” and stressed: “These comments were made in a personal capacity and do not represent La Liga. To the extent of our institutional responsibility, we apologize on behalf of La Liga and all its clubs.” The league said it would work with clubs and players on a protocol “that promotes respect for different cultures and helps prevent similar situations”.
The row began on Monday night, when Chinese football forum Dongqiudi highlighted a clip from The Bridge, a YouTube show hosted by Mbappé’s Real Madrid team-mate Aurélien Tchouaméni. In clips circulating online, Mbappé is heard calling a meme his favourite, saying it shows “a guy, I think it’s a Chinese dictator”, as an edited image of his face on a figure resembling Mao Zedong appears. The clips have not been independently verified, Mbappé does not name Mao in them, and the original video is no longer on the show’s YouTube channel. Dongqiudi called the comments “inappropriate” and said they were liable to “hurt the feelings of Chinese people”.
The reaction in China was swift. By Tuesday morning, four topics related to Mbappé were among the top 10 trending searches on Weibo, Reuters reported, with some users calling for him to be blacklisted. China’s foreign ministry said words and actions that hurt the feelings of the Chinese people “will naturally be met with joint opposition from all sectors of Chinese society”. The Global Times reported that Dior, On and Hublot had removed Mbappé content from their Weibo pages, and that new users are currently unable to follow his accounts on RedNote or Weibo.
The fallout has also reached LaLiga’s television coverage. The Paper reported that China Media Group, CCTV’s parent company, has suspended broadcasts of matches involving LaLiga and Mbappé, and CCTV’s news apps have removed content about the striker, according to the BBC.
The “dictator” nickname has followed Mbappé for some time, and he addressed it in September, telling L’Équipe: “Part of it is funny because you get the sense that, for some people, it’s all in good fun. There’s also a less funny part because we know the damage these kinds of people have caused throughout history.” On the pitch, he scored twice in Sunday’s 2-1 Clásico win at Camp Nou, his second goal taking him to 100 for Real Madrid. Real Madrid are next due to play on Sunday, away at Racing Santander, according to Football España.
