China says takes Mbappe apology 'seriously' after Mao remark

BEIJING: China said Wednesday (Oct 28) it took "seriously" an apology from Real Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappe after comments he made poking fun at Mao Zedong sparked a social media storm and saw Spanish football yanked off state TV.

Mocking former leader Mao - blamed by historians for millions of deaths - is taboo in China and the French player's remarks saw him become the latest foreign sports figure to anger Beijing.

The clip of the video interview with French show The Bridge - since taken down - saw Mbappe talk about being amused by an internet meme of his face photoshopped onto "some guy, think he's a Chinese dictator", an apparent reference to Mao.

"My comment was ill-judged and I now understand that it hurt many people in China and in Chinese communities around the world. I apologise to everyone my words have upset," the France captain said in a statement in French, Chinese and English on Tuesday.

Foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told a regular briefing on Wednesday: "We take seriously the apology the individual concerned has made."

But that may not be the end of the matter.

La Liga, which has seen the broadcast of its matches suspended in China, said it "deeply regrets the offence that Kylian Mbappe's recent comments have caused among Chinese fans".

Chinese beverage giant Dongpeng, which during this year's World Cup ran adverts with AI-generated images of Mbappe, said Tuesday it had scrapped its partnership with the player, as did dairy firms Mengniu and Milkground.

CMG, which oversees public broadcaster CCTV, said it had decided to suspend broadcasts of the world's second-richest football league after England's Premier League.

The 27-year-old continued to face a torrent of criticism from Chinese web users on