China News Service, Beijing, October 28th Recently, French player Kylian Mbappe, who plays for Real Madrid in La Liga, made inappropriate remarks related to China. After the incident continued to ferment, many netizens spontaneously boycotted, many brands officially announced the termination of cooperation with them, and relevant platforms also suspended the broadcast of La Liga matches.
On October 27, Beijing time, Mbappe issued an apology statement. La Liga also responded on the same day, saying that the relevant remarks were only the personal opinions of the players and did not represent the position of La Liga, and expressed its sincere apology to Chinese fans.
On October 28, Real Madrid finally issued an official statement, formally apologizing for Mbappe's inappropriate remarks, which stated: We will always uphold the values of respect, coexistence and cross-cultural understanding, and look forward to further strengthening the friendship and emotional ties with China and its people.
However, before the official statement was released, the club's message through the Spanish media was that Mbappe "never intended to offend" and "players have the right to express their personal opinions."
"Never intended to offend" responds to the motive of the behavior, but the public is asking about the actual consequences of the remarks. Relevant inappropriate statements were publicly released and widely disseminated, and continued to arouse public opinion. This cannot be excused by just saying "accidentally". What's more, this is not the first time Real Madrid has used this as a shield on China-related issues.
If you stretch the timeline, you will find that this is not the first time such an operation has occurred. In June 2024, the grandson of former Real Madrid chairman Sanz publicly sang songs with racially discriminatory content. After the Chinese Embassy in Spain lodged serious representations, Real Madrid characterized the incident as the behavior of individual fans. In February 2026, Real Madrid player Huizen retweeted content related to discrimination against Asians. The club only issued a brief apology on Chinese Weibo, saying it was an "inadvertent repost and an unintentional mistake." This apology was not simultaneously released on overseas social platforms and was criticized by fans as a "Weibo special offer."
It is not difficult to find from this that Real Madrid's logic in handling problems in the past was to shirk responsibility on the grounds of "personality" and "unintentional". This continues to consume the goodwill accumulated by domestic fans over the years.
As a traditional giant of La Liga, Real Madrid has a huge fan base in China. Real Madrid players have visited China many times before and have been warmly welcomed by domestic fans. The club has also carried out in-depth commercial cooperation with a number of Chinese brands. The controversy over Mbappe's inappropriate remarks related to China not only aroused strong dissatisfaction among domestic fans, but also put Real Madrid's business layout in China facing a severe test.
As the employer of players, the club not only shares the players' commercial value dividends, but also has corresponding management and restraint obligations. Real Madrid's official apology this time is ultimately a recognition of a basic fact: Mbappe's relevant remarks have touched the bottom line of the Chinese people.
For Real Madrid, an apology is a necessary step, but it is by no means a gold medal for immunity. To prevent similar incidents from happening again at the root, Real Madrid still needs to make up for it: restrain players’ public words and deeds from the institutional level, and take verifiable practical actions between business cooperation and value respect.
