Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe is at the centre of a controversy in China for his comments on late Chinese leader Mao Zedong, which have not only cost him several commercial deals but have also led to state television scrapping La Liga broadcasts. The backlash highlighted the risks for athletes and brands in the lucrative Chinese market, where satire about Mao, modern China’s founding leader who ruled the country from 1949 until his death in 1976, remains a social taboo. Once hailed as a footballing sensation, Mbappe was widely adored in China until the controversy caused outrage among the country’s 1.4 billion people. Despite issuing an apology, the French superstar struggled to dissipate anger on Chinese social media on Wednesday.
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