Chinese state television CCTV suspended broadcasts of the Spanish soccer league and matches related to Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappé, following controversy over statements by the Frenchman about a 'meme' that compares him to Mao Zedong.
As reported this Tuesday by the local media The Paper, which cites sources linked to public radio and television, the measure came into force on Monday night and also includes the withdrawal of all advertisements and videos starring the footballer.
LaLiga has apologized through a statement on its website, where they assure that "they deeply regret the offense that Kylian Mbappé's recent comments have caused among Chinese fans. These comments were made in a personal capacity and do not represent LALIGA. To the extent of our institutional responsibility, we apologize."
Javier Tebas, president of LALIGA, has expressed: "From LALIGA we want to express our deep regret for Kylian Mbappé's statements that have caused discomfort and offense among the Chinese people. We fully understand and respect the sensitivity of the Chinese people and we sincerely regret the damage that these statements may have caused. On behalf of LALIGA, I want to convey our apologies to all those who have felt offended."
"At LALIGA we are adopting the measures within our reach to address this situation and reinforce the respect and cultural sensitivity that must govern any action related to our competition. I want to personally reiterate our maximum respect for China and its people, as well as our firm will to continue strengthening relationships that we consider strategic, deep and lasting," adds Tebas.
On the shelves of some Chinese supermarkets there are still bottles of energy drinks with Mbappé's face. The French striker appears as a promotional item for Dongpeng, one of the national beverage giants. His image has also been used to sell milk, cheese and other products to the millions of fans who follow European football from the Asian giant. But the Real Madrid star has just discovered that, in China, a joke can be much more dangerous for his advertising revenue than a bad season on the pitch.
The footballer has committed an unforgivable sin: laughing at Mao Zedong, the founder of the People's Republic, who died half a century ago and whose figure continues to occupy an almost sacred place in the official imagination of the Communist Party.
It all started with a seemingly harmless interview on The Bridge, a football program in which Mbappé was asked about his favorite meme, those manipulated images that circulate on the internet. The Frenchman confessed, laughing, that he was very amused by a montage in which his face had been placed over that of "a guy who I think is a Chinese dictator." He added that he used to share it with his friends while they played PlayStation. He did not say Mao's name, but the reference was obvious. What in Europe could have passed for an absurd joke among football fans became, when crossing the Great Chinese Digital Wall, an offense to millions of citizens.
The machinery of indignation took little time to get going. Dongqiudi, one of the country's main sports platforms, published a solemn statement on Monday announcing that it refused to translate the interview because the striker's words had hurt the feelings of the Chinese people. Thousands of comments flooded social networks, especially Weibo (similar to X), where some users demanded a rectification from Real Madrid and others directly demanded a commercial boycott of the footballer.
Although many did not even understand what had happened because Dongqiudi's statement had denounced the Frenchman's words without translating them or explaining exactly what he had said. And in a Chinese Internet subject to strict censorship, where even AI assistants can avoid certain political questions, some Internet users had to resort to word games and riddles to explain the scandal without mentioning "dictator Mao", a taboo term in Chinese cyberspace.
This Tuesday the reaction of the companies arrived. Dongpeng has announced the immediate severance of all its commercial agreements with the French. "Our company firmly opposes and maintains a position of zero tolerance towards any behavior that hurts national sentiments," it says in a statement. The dairy giant Mengniu published another practically identical writing. Also the cheese maker Milkground, business linked to Mengniu, announced the end of their collaboration.
The controversy is especially striking because Mbappé is a celebrity in the Asian giant. His followers affectionately nickname him Guigui, a reference to his resemblance to a ninja turtle. During the World Cup, his face appeared in numerous commercial campaigns. But neither goals nor popularity seem to offer immunity from a digital nationalism in which an unfortunate word can trigger a business crisis. The popular platform Xiaohongshu, known internationally as RedNote, which had collaborated with him, also began to review its content related to the player.
To understand such a reaction we must stop at the always controversial figure of Mao. His portrait continues to dominate the entrance to the Forbidden City, in Tiananmen Square, and his face appears on all yuan banknotes (the local currency). In a historic resolution of 1981, the Communist Party recognized serious errors during its mandate, especially the Cultural Revolution, but preserved its status as founder and great revolutionary leader. Many in China do not forget that Maoist policies caused catastrophes such as the famine that caused millions of deaths. However, publicly questioning his legacy remains politically highly sensitive.
A LONG LIST OF GRIEVANCES
The controversy around Mbappé is one more episode that reveals the enormous Chinese susceptibility to any joke that touches on a sensitive issue for the regime. The expression "hurt the feelings of the Chinese people" has become a common formula for political and commercial condemnation. It is also an effective instrument to mobilize consumers and for companies and celebrities to publicly demonstrate their patriotism. Propaganda and social media outlets amplify the protests, and brands are quick to distance themselves from any suspects.
Real Madrid knows the terrain well. In February he had to spread an apology on Weibo attributed to defender Dean Huijsen after he shared a post on Instagram with racist comments about the physical features of Asian people.
In April, FC Barcelona had to apologize in China after a photograph circulated of several children from its academy holding the Taiwanese flag during an Asian youth tournament. The image, from the 2025 Barça Academy Asia-Pacific Cup, caused a digital storm because Beijing claims the territory of the island, de facto governed independently, as its own. The Catalan club explained that the page was managed by an external company, removed the photograph and promised to strengthen its supervision mechanisms. On Weibo he apologized for "any inconvenience caused."
There are even more notable precedents. In 2019, Daryl Morey, then general manager of the Houston Rockets, posted a message supporting the Hong Kong pro-democracy protests. The NBA suffered a commercial earthquake: games removed from Chinese television, sponsorships suspended and a crisis that cost the American competition millions. In 2021, wrestler and actor John Cena ended up recording an apology video in Mandarin after referring to Taiwan as a "country" while promoting Fast & Furious 9.
