Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappe has apologised to Chinese fans over his comments about a meme featuring former Chinese leader Mao Zedong, following an apology from Spanish football league La Liga. Three Chinese companies reportedly ended their commercial partnerships with the French captain amid the backlash.
La Liga had earlier expressed regret over the offence caused by Mbappe’s remarks, distancing itself from his comments and announcing plans to introduce measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.
The controversy began after a video featuring Mbappe circulated online on Monday. In the clip, the forward was asked about his favourite meme featuring himself and described a video showing a man he believed was a Chinese dictator. The footage then showed an edited image of Mbappe’s face superimposed on the body of Mao Zedong. “As President of La Liga, I take on the responsibility of working with our clubs and players to strengthen awareness of, and respect for, different cultures. The proposed measures will complement its ongoing engagement with partners and institutional counterparts in China to address the situation.
“My comment was ill-judged, and I now understand that it hurt many people in China and in Chinese communities around the world,” Mbappe said in a statement posted on X on Tuesday. In its statement, La Liga said Mbappe’s comments were made in a personal capacity and did not represent the league. “Within the scope of our institutional responsibility, we apologise on behalf of La Liga and all its clubs,” the statement read. We want to nurture this relationship through action, and we will implement concrete measures to help ensure that situations like this do not happen again,” Tebas said. La Liga said it would develop an awareness and communication protocol in collaboration with clubs and players.
