Memes go overboard: Mbappe, LaLiga and Real face fallout from Chinese officials
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Barcelona: World Cup trending meme ‘Kylian Dictator’ has invited trouble for Real Madrid camp. French footballer Kylian Mbappe’s comment about the internet banter involving Chinese leader Mao Zedong has escalated the situation. The issue has substantially affected the league’s relationship with China, leading to broadcast halts for LaLiga in China.
China's ambassador to Spain, Yao Jing, on Friday said China contacted Real Madrid and LaLiga over the fallout from Kylian Mbappe's remarks about Mao. "There are no negotiations, but there is communication, based on mutual understanding," Yao told Spanish news agency EFE before attending a forum at the University of Salamanca.
"This unfortunate incident hurt the feelings of many people in China, who now have to come to terms with the current situation," he added.
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The dispute began after a video circulated online in which the Real Madrid forward discussed a meme showing his face superimposed on an image of Mao. Mbappe described the figure as "some guy, I think he's a Chinese dictator" but did not name Mao, modern China's founding leader who governed the country from 1949 until his demise in 1976. LaLiga, Real Madrid and the Frenchman all subsequently apologised.
China's state broadcaster CCTV suspended its coverage of LaLiga and several Chinese brands dropped Mbappe from their marketing campaigns. Streaming platform Migu omitted Real Madrid's match against Racing Santander last weekend while broadcast continued for other LaLiga games. China Media Group said last week that it would listen to what Mbappe had to say after his apology, and "more importantly" watch what he does.
LaLiga president Javier Tebas met Yao last week as Spanish football sought to limit the commercial fallout and said on Monday that the league was continuing its dialogue with Chinese authorities. LaLiga was "working to resolve it", Tebas said at the World In Progress forum, adding that it continued to have an "extraordinary relationship" with CCTV and Migu.
LaLiga and Migu have an agreement for the broadcast of Spain's top division matches until the end of the 2029-30 season. The LaLiga president said the league's broadcasting contracts with CCTV and Migu totalled around €10 million per year, having fallen from €100 million annually at their peak. Real Madrid has not yet responded to the issue.
(With Reuters input).
