BEIJING, November 08, 2026 (DAILYNWZ) — China is maintaining contact with Real Madrid and Spain’s LaLiga over the controversy surrounding Kylian Mbappe’s remarks about Mao Zedong, as the Spanish football industry seeks to contain the commercial fallout from an incident that triggered a backlash among Chinese audiences.
“There are no negotiations, but there is communication, based on mutual understanding,” China’s ambassador to Spain, Yao Jing, told Spanish news agency EFE on Friday ahead of a forum at the University of Salamanca.
Yao said the incident had hurt the feelings of many people in China, who were now having to come to terms with the situation.
The controversy erupted after a video circulated online showing Mbappe, the Real Madrid and France forward, reacting to a meme featuring his face superimposed on an image of Mao, the founder of the People’s Republic of China.
Mbappe referred to the figure as “some guy, I think he’s a Chinese dictator”, without explicitly naming Mao, who led China from 1949 until his death in 1976.
LaLiga, Real Madrid and the French international subsequently issued apologies. However, the incident prompted a series of commercial repercussions in China.
State broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) suspended its coverage of LaLiga, while several Chinese brands removed Mbappe from their marketing campaigns. Streaming platform Migu also left out Real Madrid’s match against Racing Santander last weekend, despite broadcasting other Spanish league fixtures.
China Media Group said last week that it would listen to Mbappe’s response following his apology but would, “more importantly”, pay attention to his subsequent actions.
Efforts to ease tensions have included direct contacts between Spanish football officials and Chinese authorities. LaLiga president Javier Tebas met Yao last week and confirmed on Monday that dialogue with Beijing was continuing.
Speaking at the World In Progress forum, Tebas said the league was “working to resolve it” and stressed that LaLiga maintained an “extraordinary relationship” with CCTV and Migu.
The stakes extend beyond the immediate controversy. LaLiga and Migu have a broadcasting agreement covering Spain’s top football division through the end of the 2029-30 season.
Tebas said the league’s broadcasting contracts with CCTV and Migu were worth approximately 10 million euros ($11.20 million) annually, down from a peak of 100 million euros a year.
The dispute therefore comes at a time when Spanish football is seeking to preserve its commercial presence in one of its important international broadcasting markets.
Real Madrid did not immediately respond to a request for comment.