Mbappé is being canceled in China — the forward has been removed from the eFootball simulator, and Frenchman’s shirts are being burned in the country
Kyiv • UNN
Konami removed Mbappé from the Chinese versions of eFootball after his joke about Mao Zedong. Fans are burning shirts and announcing a boycott.
Japanese company Konami removed France and Real Madrid national team forward Kylian Mbappé from the eFootball football simulator in the Chinese version of the game after a joke about Mao Zedong. Angry fans in China are also burning shirts bearing the forward’s name, reports UNN.
Details
"Recently, French footballer Kylian Mbappé made inappropriate remarks about China during a public interview, seriously offending the feelings of the Chinese people. We immediately discontinued all promotional content featuring this player, both within and outside the game. The Chinese versions of eFootball, eFootball online, and eFootball eFootball: King of Collectibles have also discontinued the creation and release of characters and cards related to this player," Konami said in a statement.
The company added that sport has no borders, but respect must be mandatory. We will announce further action plans in the future.
"We thank the fans for their continued attention and support," the company added.
The scandal was preceded by Mbappé’s comment about his favorite meme.
There are plenty of them. The one I laughed at the most was when they posted a video of "some guy"—I think he is a Chinese dictator—and they put my... in it. I use it very often with my friends online, on PlayStation
However, after apologies from Mbappé, the leadership of the Spanish Championship, and Real Madrid, the fans did not calm down. Videos began appearing online showing Chinese fans expressing their anger in another way: trampling on his photographs and burning his shirts in front of the cameras. The message was clear. No apology will heal the wound inflicted on their national symbol.
One of the fans stamped on posters featuring Mbappé and then turned to the camera with angry words: "I feel tremendous anger over what I heard in Mbappé’s comments about China. I am announcing a strict boycott of him and will never forgive him for this".
"Real Madrid" apologized to China for Mbappé's joke28.10.26, 15:23 • 17637 views
We remind you
France and Real Madrid national team forward Kylian Mbappé became the face of the new edition of the EA Sports FC 27 football simulator, which will be released in September.