Real Madrid, La Liga, and Kylian Mbappe issued apologies this week following a video that appeared to show the footballer mocking former leader Mao Zedong. Mbappe reportedly referred to the former leader as "some guy, think he's a Chinese dictator" in the footage.
China's state television broadcaster, CCTV, will pull Spanish top-flight matches from its programming as a result of the incident. Yan Qiang, a spokesperson for China's foreign ministry, said, "Viewed from a calm, objective and emotion-free standpoint, this is clearly a very damaging incident."
The spokesperson added that the situation causes serious damage to the image of Real Madrid and La Liga within China. Major Chinese brands have already severed ties with Mbappe, while his Rednote social media account was muted in Shanghai on 28 October for violating community guidelines.
Qiang noted that Mbappe possesses a huge influence in China based on his commercial sponsorships and large advertising campaigns during the World Cup. The Madrid club currently counts Hisense, Kaiyun Sports, and Linglong Tire as primary sponsors, while Marca reports the club generates between 10 and 15 percent of its jersey and merchandise sales in China.
International broadcasting rights for the 2024-25 season were valued at 748 million euros ($834 million), with a source within La Liga claiming that China and the United States alone finance the majority of these rights. The incident mirrors the 2019 situation where China cut ties with the NBA after Daryl Morey tweeted support for Hong Kong protesters.
Debby Chan described the NBA case and the current Mbappe situation as illustrations of China's consumer nationalism, where state media and online sentiment converge into "a spiral of outrage." Qiang expressed that he is not optimistic about the short-term outlook for the league's presence in the country.
