Kylian Mbappe has issued an apology to Chinese fans after several major companies cut their sponsorship deals with the Real Madrid forward following comments about former Chinese leader Mao Zedong.
“The comments I made yesterday were inappropriate and I am sorry to have caused offence in China or among Chinese people across the world,” said France captain on Tuesday.
“Was not my intention to offend anyone and I realise now that my comment was badly judged and hurt many people in China, and across the Chinese communities everywhere,” Mbappe said on X.
“I want to apologise to everyone that I have upset by my words. That was certainly not my intention. I hold nothing but respect for the Chinese people and their history. I’m truly sorry.”
The controversy was sparked by a video in which Mbappe is said to have called a meme of himself photoshopped onto a picture of Mao “the funniest thing I’ve seen”. Reuters said it was unable to verify the footage independently.
Chinese firms, like the dairy company Mengniu, and drinks companies Dongpeng and Eastroc, are discontinuing their alliances.
The comments received wide criticism on Chinese social media, with users writing that brands should delete Mbappe’s image from their products.
La Liga boss Javier Tebas also issued an apology and said the organisation regretted the offence that had been caused and was working with the Chinese partners to resolve the issue.
Controversy can have a commercial impact too as this illustrates.
Representatives of Mbappe and Real Madrid did not respond to a request for comment.
