France football captain Kylian Mbappé has called his joke about Mao Zedong ill-considered, after it effectively led to him being banned from mention in China, infohub.kz reports.
The player posted on X to apologize for remarks he made during an interview. "During a recent interview, I reacted to an image of myself. My comment was ill-considered, and I now understand that it offended many people in China and in Chinese communities around the world. I apologize to everyone my words upset. That was absolutely not my intention. I deeply respect the Chinese people and their history, and I sincerely regret it," he said.
Earlier, Mbappé had discussed his favorite internet memes during an interview. Some of his comments were seen as insulting to China. The player said his favorite meme was his own face, edited with image software and superimposed onto the face of a certain "Chinese dictator."
After that, Mbappé lost partnerships with a number of Chinese companies. Chinese television also refused to show Spanish league matches and advertising materials featuring the player.