At the heart of a diplomatic and commercial storm in China. Kylian Mbappé had to apologize, in a press release published Tuesday October 27, after a joke about Mao Zedong.
In the podcast "The Bridge", the captain of the French team declares that the "meme" about him "where [he] laughed the most" associates him with a man he believes to be "a Chinese dictator", referring to montages which place his face on images of the former Chinese leader.
Comments dating from April and which reappeared recently through Chinese sports media and which provoked very strong reactions in the country. Mao Zedong remains an untouchable figure in the country. Any criticism of his memory is strictly prohibited by law. In China, Mao's record is officially established as 70% good, 30% bad, in reference to the famine of the Great Leap Forward, or the atrocities of the Cultural Revolution. “Simple mistakes”, which it is difficult to talk about today, because President Xi Jinping maintains this image of Mao as the father of the nation.
“We will judge by deeds”
Despite the attacker's apologies, the controversy continued in the media with a salty editorial in the People's Daily. The newspaper denounces Kylian Mbappé's contempt for Chinese history: "He bit the hand that feeds him." The newspaper speaks of a ruined brand image. However, the French player's regrets have reached China, with 430 million views on the social network Weibo. But state television, CCTV, which has decided to no longer broadcast Spanish championship matches, is not reconsidering its decision: “We will judge on the actions,” declared its president.
Social networks quickly ignited against the player. Internet users consider his excuses insincere and motivated by greed. The star's official account on the Xiaohongshu platform remains blocked. The impact goes far beyond simple online publications. The only sign of appeasement, China declared on Wednesday, through the spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that it took the apologies presented by the footballer “seriously”.
Strong economic consequences
In any case, the financial consequences were not long in coming for Kylian Mbappe and his business partners. Several companies have distanced themselves to protect their image. Three Chinese brands have terminated their advertising contracts worth nearly 7 million euros. Dong Peng drinks notably suspended the huge poster campaign where Mbappé was seen on buses and in train stations. Dior deleted content about the player from its Chinese social networks. But it is above all the boycott of La Liga matches, followed by tens of millions of viewers, which constitutes the main issue. The president of the Spanish football league met the Chinese ambassador in Madrid on Tuesday to apologize.
This affair highlights the fragility of the major European clubs in the face of the Asian giant. China represents an essential market for global sports business. “This is a matter that is taking on a totally incredible dimension,” declares Virgile Caillet, deputy director of the Union Sport et Cycle. “Today, the entire value chain of Spanish football is involved in this controversy.” Potential losses amount to hundreds of millions of euros. Spanish clubs have been seeking to attract Chinese consumers for decades, but their governing bodies have to deal with very strong political sensitivities and reputational risk is never far away.
This episode is reminiscent of that which occurred with the NBA in 2019 with the major American professional basketball league. He had already demonstrated the potential consequences of a Chinese boycott. A simple tweet of support for the Hong Kong protesters by the president of the Houston Rockets cost the franchise hundreds of millions of dollars. “It's a bit of a contradictory situation for all these big European clubs and the big sportspeople who hope to conquer these new markets, and in particular China, underlines Virgile Caillet. They ultimately find themselves weakened, almost economically dependent on these considerable markets. Real Madrid has almost 100 million fans in China, so you can imagine the reputational risk that this can represent for the club.
