Kylian Mbappe has apologised to the Chinese people after comments about Mao Zedong, the former Chinese political leader, caused a backlash in China.
The Real Madrid and France forward described Mao as a dictator in an interview, prompting several Chinese companies to announce that they were ending their partnerships with him.
China Media Group, the country’s state broadcaster, also suspended its broadcasts of Spanish league matches following Mbappe’s remarks.
Mbappe later issued a public apology to the Chinese people. A representative of China Media Group responded to the statement by saying that “actions are no less important”.
The controversy comes after Mbappe finished second in the voting for the Ballon d’Or.