Mbappe dropped by Chinese brands over 'offending national sentiments'

Photo: collected

Kylian Mbappe was dropped by two major Chinese brands on Tuesday after a video circulated online in which the French football star appeared to joke about former Chinese leader Mao Zedong, reports AFP.

Drinks giant Dongpeng said it was ending its partnership with the Real Madrid and France forward.

"Our company firmly opposes and has a zero-tolerance policy towards any behaviour that offends national sentiments," Dongpeng said in a statement, adding that "with immediate effect we are terminating all cooperation with Kylian Mbappe".

Mengniu, China's largest dairy producer, also cut ties with the 27-year-old.

"With immediate effect our company is terminating all cooperation with Kylian Mbappe," Mengniu said in a statement.

"Mengniu firmly opposes and has a zero-tolerance policy towards any words or actions that hurt the feelings of the Chinese people," it added.

The announcements followed the circulation of a video in which Mbappe appeared to say that the funniest internet meme he had seen showed his face photoshopped onto that of "some guy -- I think he's a Chinese dictator".

The remark appeared to refer to a meme showing Mbappe superimposed on an image of Mao, part of a series of memes pairing the footballer's face with historical figures.

AFP Fact Check could not immediately verify the authenticity of the video.

"Dongpeng Beverage ends cooperation with Mbappe" became the top-trending topic on Chinese social media platform Weibo.

Mbappe lost out to Harry Kane in the Ballon d'Or voting on Monday.