Kylian Mbappe, Real Madrid and La Liga have apologised for the French striker’s comments about Mao Zedong, but the damage to their reputation in China will not be easily or quickly repaired, experts say. The France captain, one of the best footballers on the planet, is at the centre of a controversy after a video emerged this week of him appearing to make fun of former leader Mao. Mbappe talked about being amused by an internet meme of his face digitally altered onto “some guy, think he’s a Chinese dictator”.
Mao remains officially revered as the hero of the communist revolution and founder of the People’s Republic of China. He is blamed by historians for millions of deaths, but publicly mocking him is taboo, and Mbappe’s remarks saw him become the latest foreign sports figure or entity to infuriate Beijing. Leading Chinese brands cut ties with the 27-year-old, and Spanish top-flight matches will be pulled from state television broadcaster CCTV’s schedule.
Chinese state media and social media users lined up to lambast Mbappe, although they were left in the dark about what exactly he said. China is the world’s second-biggest economy and most lucrative market. Within two days, as the video, purportedly filmed in April, circulated online, the striker, his club Real Madrid and La Liga apologised.
A spokesman for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the government took Mbappe’s apology “seriously”. Various overseas sports leagues or players have found themselves in hot water for comments on topics that are politically sensitive to China. China effectively cut ties with the National Basketball Association (NBA) in the United States in 2019 after then-Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted his support for Hong Kong protesters.
NBA executives said Morey had the right to freedom of expression. In contrast, La Liga immediately distanced itself from what Mbappe said. Basketball is among the most popular sports in China along with football.
However, Morey’s remark saw the NBA wiped from CCTV for more than a year. NBA preseason matches returned to China only last year. Australian National University lecturer Debby Chan called the NBA case – and now Mbappe’s – an illustration of China’s consumer nationalism, where online sentiment and state media converge into “a spiral of outrage”.
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