The commercial damage to Spanish football from a single podcast remark is already deeper than any apology issued this week, and Chinese analysts say the road back for Kylian Mbappé, Real Madrid and La Liga will not be measured in days.
That is the picture painted by Al Jazeera’s analysis of a controversy that erupted when a clip surfaced of Mbappé, on the French show The Bridge, laughing about a meme that placed his face on “some guy, think he’s a Chinese dictator,” an apparent reference to Mao Zedong.
By the time the apologies arrived on 27 and 28 October, three Chinese partners, Dongpeng Beverage, Mengniu and Milkground, had already severed ties with the forward, and China Media Group, which oversees CCTV, had suspended La Liga coverage.
The sums at risk in China
La Liga’s broadcasting rights were worth around €748m ($834m) in the 2024-25 season, with China and the United States financing the majority of that total, Al Jazeera reported. Real Madrid, meanwhile, generates an estimated 10-15 per cent of its jersey and merchandise sales in China, where its shirt sponsors include electronics giant Hisense, betting firm Kaiyun Sports and Linglong Tire.
Read also: Three London clubs circle Leverkusen’s Ibrahim Maza as PSG enter the race
Chinese analysts see prolonged damage
Veteran Chinese sports commentator Yan Qiang told Al Jazeera that the fallout had done serious damage to the image of La Liga and Real Madrid in China, and that an apology would not necessarily close the matter.
“In the short term, I’m certainly not optimistic.”
Debby Chan, a lecturer at the Australian National University, framed what had unfolded as “consumer nationalism,” where online outrage and state-aligned media reinforce each other into a spiral that brands are reluctant to sit through. Adam Zhang, of Key-Solution Sports Consulting, told the outlet that whether the broadcast ban continues will hinge on how quickly and credibly contrition is shown.
The 2019 NBA precedent
The precedent the industry keeps returning to is the NBA’s 2019 rupture with China after then-Houston Rockets executive Daryl Morey posted in support of Hong Kong protesters. That standoff cost the league hundreds of millions of dollars in sponsorship and broadcasting revenue, and games did not return to Chinese state television until 2025.
Read also: Bayern Munich ready to break long-standing rule for Harry Kane
European football has no equivalent fallback audience to absorb such a loss, which is why La Liga’s response has moved beyond a public statement. The league said Mbappé’s comments “were made in a personal capacity and do not represent” the competition, and said it would develop a cultural-awareness protocol with its Chinese partners.
Beijing’s response so far
Real Madrid’s statement, issued the day after Mbappé’s own apology, told Chinese fans the club “wishes to express its apologies to the Chinese people for any discomfort that may have been caused by the recent words of our player.” Mbappé’s public message, posted in French, Chinese and English, acknowledged his comment was “ill-judged” and said he now understood that “it hurt many people in China and in Chinese communities around the world.”
China’s foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said Beijing was taking the apology “seriously.” But CCTV has stopped short of restoring La Liga’s slot and signalled it would judge Mbappé by his future conduct, not his statement. The forward’s accounts on Weibo and Xiaohongshu remain restricted.
As of 29 October, no resumption of broadcasts or lifting of the sponsor and account restrictions has been announced.
Read also: Grizzlies rookie breaks LeBron James’s record with historic triple-double
Read also: Jake Paul eyes Christmas Eve return as former UFC star demands a contract
