Mocking Mao Zedong is taboo in China, which is a lucrative market for players and teams such as Kylian Mbappe’s Real.
La Liga club Real Madrid issued an apology on Wednesday after their French superstar Kylian Mbappe triggered a fierce backlash over his comments referring to the former Chinese leader Mao Zedong as a “dictator”.
After apologies from Mbappe and La Liga failed to quell the negative response in China, La Liga President Javier Tebas set up a crisis unit and met with Chinese ambassador Yao Jing.
The controversy highlighted the risks for athletes and brands in the lucrative Chinese market, where satire about Mao, modern China’s founding leader, who ruled the country from 1949 until his death in 1976, remains a social taboo.
“Real Madrid CF wishes to express its apologies to the Chinese people for any discomfort caused by the recent words of our player Kylian Mbappe,” Real said in a statement.
“Our club maintains a deep respect for China, its history, its culture and its citizens, as well as for the millions of Chinese fans who feel affection and admiration for Real Madrid,” the statement added.
Real Madrid game not on TV
China’s state-owned broadcasting platform Migu will not be showing Real Madrid’s La Liga game against Racing Santander on Sunday, while Chinese brands, including dairy companies Mengniu and Shanghai Milkground Food Tech as well as Eastroc Beverage, have ceased all cooperation with Mbappe.
Migu is scheduled to show nine of La Liga’s 10 games this weekend, with Real Madrid’s match the only one not covered. Migu did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Reuters news agency.
La Liga moved quickly to set up a crisis unit and reached out to Real Madrid, a significant move following years of strained relations between Tebas and the club due to a power struggle within Spanish football. Real Madrid recently called for Tebas’ resignation.
Both parties put aside their differences, acknowledging the potential immediate and long-term financial repercussions of Mbappe’s comments. Following Real’s statement, sources at La Liga said Tebas was considering travelling to China to neutralise the threat of a huge financial loss for Spanish football.
La Liga will also consider strengthening its institutional engagement with Beijing amid serious concerns about a sharp drop in revenue, as Chinese state television awaits further gestures of reconciliation.
In a video on a French podcast that has since been taken down, Mbappe is heard discussing a humorous meme where his face had been photoshopped onto an image he described as “some guy – I think he’s a Chinese dictator”.
Fans have been creating memes superimposing Mbappe’s face on images of military and political leaders to suggest that he has the power to influence decisions at the teams he plays for. Mbappe has been nicknamed “the dictator” in the European press.
On Wednesday, when asked what China thought of Mbappe’s apology, foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said: “We take seriously the apology that the person has made.”