The key facts

  • Three sponsors dropped Mbappe, and Chinese state TV suspended broadcasts of La Liga matches
  • China and the US finance the 'majority' of the league's international broadcasting rights — 748 million euros for the 2024/25 season
  • Apologies from the league, Tebas, Mbappe and Real Madrid have not yet defused the situation

Scandal and apologies

The scandal erupted after a short video clip in which a meme depicted Kylian Mbappe as Mao Zedong, and the footballer himself called him a 'Chinese dictator'. In China, this triggered a mass boycott: three sponsors dropped Mbappe, and state television suspended broadcasts of the Spanish league's matches. On Tuesday, Real Madrid issued an apology, joining the earlier apologies from La Liga, its president Javier Tebas, and Mbappe himself. As AFPnotes, these steps are seen as an attempt by the club to protect its commercial interests in China, but so far they have not defused the situation.

What lies behind the apologies

The scale of the reaction is explained by economics: a source at La Liga told AFP that China and the US together finance the 'majority' of the league's international broadcasting rights, which were valued at 748 million euros (834 million dollars) in the 2024/25 season. The league's matches on state-run CCTV are among the most-watched sporting events in the country, and since 2016 La Liga has even adjusted its schedule to Asian time zones, growing its audience and the value of its rights. On August 3, the league announced a new agreement with Migu, a subsidiary of China Mobile, to broadcast 380 matches per season until 2030.

The stakes for the clubs

The Chinese market matters for the clubs themselves, too. According to Marca, which AFP cites, Real Madrid derives 10 to 15 percent of its shirt and merchandise sales from China, and among the club's main sponsors are the Chinese companies Hisense, Kaiyun Sports and Linglong Tire. Club president Florentino Perez, through his publicly listed group ACS, owns several subsidiaries in China and Hong Kong. Barcelona, which has opened several football academies in the country, stated in its Chinese New Year greeting that it has more fans in Asia 'than in Europe and the Americas combined'. The suspension of broadcasts thus threatens not only the league's overall international strategy, but also the multi-million investments of both giants of Spanish football.