Mbappe apologises over Mao Zedong remark as Chinese brands cut ties and La Liga broadcasts suspended

BEIJING, Oct 28 — Kylian Mbappe apologised on Tuesday after the Real Madrid star was dropped by major Chinese brands for apparently joking about Mao Zedong in a video that has gone viral.

The row deepened when, despite La Liga also apologising, state-owned China Media Group (CMG) said Chinese state television was suspending broadcasts of matches from the Spanish league.

The offending video shows Mbappe saying that the funniest internet meme he had seen involving him was of his face photo-shopped onto that of “some guy — I think he’s a Chinese dictator”.

This was an apparent reference to a meme of Mbappe superimposed on an image of Mao.

The authenticity of the video could not immediately be verified by AFP Fact Check.

“My comment was ill-judged, and I now understand that it hurt many people in China and in Chinese communities around the world. I apologise to everyone my words have upset,” French forward Mbappe said in a statement in French, Chinese and English.

La Liga said it “deeply regrets the offence that Kylian Mbappe’s recent comments have caused among Chinese fans. These comments were made in a personal capacity and do not represent La Liga.”

CMG, which oversees public broadcaster CCTV, said it had reached the decision to suspend La Liga broadcasts on Monday before Mbappe and the Spanish league apologised.

It also called for Real Madrid to apologise and said such apologies were “an absolute prerequisite” and that nothing would be discussed until they were received.

In China, jokes about Mao, the country’s founding leader who died in 1976 — and whose drastic policies are blamed by historians for mass starvation and millions of deaths — remain taboo.

Beverage giant Dongpeng, which during this year’s World Cup ran adverts with AI-generated images of Mbappe consuming its sport drink, said it was terminating cooperation with the France captain.

“Our company firmly opposes and has a zero-tolerance policy towards any behaviour that offends national sentiments,” Dongpeng said in a statement.

Mengniu, China’s largest dairy producer, and cheesemaker Milkground also said that they were cutting ties with Mbappe, who until now was hugely popular among Chinese fans with millions of social media followers.

“Dongpeng Beverage ends cooperation with Mbappe” was the top-trending topic on Chinese social media site Weibo with 430 million views.

One Weibo user said the “extremely serious wrong remarks... crossed the red line” and others urged Dongpeng to remove Mbappe’s image from their bottles.

Dongqiudi, one of China’s biggest online football outlets, said Mbappe’s remarks were “offensive to China and the Chinese people”.

In an interview with French sports newspaper L’Equipe , the 27-year-old Mbappe in September addressed a previous meme depicting him as a military dictator.

“There’s a part of it that’s funny... but there is another part that’s a bit less funny because of the damage such people have caused throughout history,” he said.

China’s foreign ministry said it was aware of the reports regarding Mbappe, who on Monday finished runner-up to English forward Harry Kane in the Ballon d’Or award for the world’s best player.

“Words and actions that hurt the feelings of the Chinese people will naturally be met with unanimous rejection from all sectors of Chinese society,” spokesman Guo Jiakun told a regular briefing.

Global sports stars who have commented on sensitive topics such as Taiwan, Tibet and Hong Kong have previously caused controversy in China and been dumped by sponsors.

China suspended sponsorship deals with the NBA while the state broadcaster pulled NBA games off Chinese television for a year in October 2019.

This followed Houston Rockets executive Daryl Morey tweeting “Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong”, referring to protests Beijing called separatist and seditious.

Adam Zhang, founder of the Beijing-based sports consultancy firm Key-Solution Sports Consulting, speaking before Mbappe apologised, said a rapid response was needed to quell the growing crisis.

“It’s crucial to make a sincere statement. The sooner, the better,” Zhang told AFP.

Fans made their feelings clear.

“I used to really enjoy watching Mbappe play on the pitch,” Zhang Jingqi, 30, who works at a mall in Beijing, said.

“But ever since this news broke yesterday I have lost that admiration, sorry to say.” — AFP

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北京，10月28日——皇家马德里球星基利安·姆巴佩周二就其在一段疯传的视频中疑似拿毛泽东开玩笑一事道歉，此前他已被多家中国主要品牌终止合作。

尽管西甲联赛也发表了道歉声明，但中国官方媒体中华广播电视总台（CMG）表示，中国国家电视台将暂停转播西甲联赛的比赛，这使得争端进一步加剧。

这段引发争议的视频显示，姆巴佩说他见过的最搞笑的关于他的网络表情包是将他的脸PS到“某个人——我认为他是中国独裁者”的脸上。

这显然是指将姆巴佩的画像叠加在毛泽东画像上的网络迷因。

法新社事实核查部门无法立即核实该视频的真实性。

“我的言论欠妥，我现在明白它伤害了中国以及世界各地华人社区的许多人。我向所有被我的言论冒犯的人道歉。”法国前锋姆巴佩用法语、中文和英语发表声明称。

西甲联赛表示，“对姆巴佩近期言论在中国球迷中造成的冒犯深表遗憾。这些言论仅代表其个人立场，并不代表西甲联赛的立场。”

负责监管公共广播公司中央电视台的CMG表示，在姆巴佩和西甲联赛道歉之前，他们已于周一决定暂停西甲联赛的转播。

声明还要求皇家马德里道歉，并表示道歉是“绝对的先决条件”，在收到道歉之前，任何事情都不会讨论。

在中国，关于毛泽东的笑话仍然是禁忌。毛泽东是中国的开国领袖，于 1976 年去世，历史学家认为他的极端政策导致了大规模饥荒和数百万人死亡。

饮料巨头东鹏在今年的世界杯期间投放了广告，广告中使用了人工智能生成的图像，让姆巴佩饮用其运动饮料。东鹏表示，将终止与这位法国队长的合作。

“我公司坚决反对任何冒犯民族情感的行为，对此类行为采取零容忍政策。”东鹏在一份声明中表示。

中国最大的乳制品生产商蒙牛和奶酪制造商Milkground也表示，他们将与姆巴佩断绝关系。姆巴佩此前在中国球迷中非常受欢迎，在社交媒体上拥有数百万粉丝。

“东鹏饮料终止与姆巴佩的合作”成为中国社交媒体网站微博上的热门话题，浏览量达4.3亿次。

一位微博用户表示，“极其严重的错误言论……越过了红线”，其他用户也敦促东鹏公司从瓶身上移除姆巴佩的形象。

中国最大的在线足球媒体之一“冬球地”表示，姆巴佩的言论“冒犯了中国和中国人民”。

27 岁的姆巴佩在 9 月份接受法国体育报纸《队报》采访时，谈到了之前一张将他描绘成军事独裁者的表情包。

“这其中一部分挺滑稽的……但另一部分就没那么好笑了，因为这些人历史上造成的破坏，”他说。

中国外交部表示，已注意到有关姆巴佩的报道。姆巴佩周一在金球奖评选中位列第二，仅次于英格兰前锋哈里·凯恩，该奖项旨在表彰世界最佳球员。

发言人郭家坤在例行记者会上表示：“伤害中国人民感情的言行，自然会遭到中国社会各界的一致反对。”

此前，一些曾就台湾、西藏、香港等敏感话题发表评论的国际体育明星，在中国引发了争议，并被赞助商抛弃。

2019 年 10 月，中国暂停了与 NBA 的赞助协议，同时中国国家电视台也停播了 NBA 比赛长达一年。

此前，休斯顿火箭队高管达里尔·莫雷在推特上发文“为自由而战，与香港站在一起”，指的是北京方面所称的分裂和煽动性抗议活动。

在姆巴佩道歉之前，总部位于北京的体育咨询公司凯能体育咨询的创始人张亚当表示，需要迅速做出反应来平息这场日益严重的危机。

张告诉法新社：“发表真诚的声明至关重要。越早越好。”

粉丝们明确表达了自己的感受。

“我以前很喜欢看姆巴佩在球场上踢球，”在北京一家商场工作的30岁张静琪说。

“但自从昨天这条消息传出后，很遗憾，我对他的敬佩之情已荡然无存。”——法新社

阿尔卡拉斯赢得维也纳首战，兹维列夫挽救四个赛点后晋级。阿尔卡拉斯赢得维也纳首战，兹维列夫挽救四个赛点。

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