China is in contact with Real Madrid and LaLiga over the fallout from Kylian Mbappe’s comments about Mao Zedong, according to China’s ambassador to Spain, Yao Jing. He spoke on Friday to Spanish news agency EFE before a forum at the University of Salamanca.
Yao described the exchanges as communication rather than negotiations, based on mutual understanding. He said the incident had upset many people in China, who now need to adjust to the situation.
Chinese broadcaster and brands react to Mbappe remarks
The row began when a video circulated online showing the Real Madrid and France forward joking about a meme that placed his face over an image of Mao. Mbappe called the figure “some guy” he believed was a Chinese dictator, without naming Mao, who led the country from 1949 until his death in 1976.
LaLiga, Real Madrid and the player all later apologised. Even so, China’s state broadcaster CCTV suspended its coverage of the league, and several Chinese brands removed Mbappe from their marketing campaigns. Streaming platform Migu left out Real Madrid’s match against Racing Santander last weekend, although it continued showing other Spanish league games.
China Media Group said last week that it would listen to Mbappe’s explanation after his apology and, more importantly, judge him by his future conduct.
LaLiga seeks to limit commercial damage in China
LaLiga president Javier Tebas met Yao last week as Spanish football tried to contain the financial impact. On Monday, Tebas said the league was keeping up its dialogue with Chinese authorities.
Speaking at the World In Progress forum, Tebas said LaLiga was “working to resolve it” and still had an “extraordinary relationship” with CCTV and Migu. LaLiga and Migu have an agreement covering broadcasts of Spain’s top division until the end of the 2029-30 season.
Tebas said the league’s broadcasting contracts with CCTV and Migu currently total around €10 million ($11.20 million) a year, down from €100 million annually at their peak. Real Madrid did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
