French football star Kylian Mbappe has faced another setback right losing the coveted Ballon d’Or to English player Harry Kane.
The ceremony was held on October 26 in London where English striker Harry was declared the Ballon d’Or while Mbappe came second.
Soon after, it was announced that Mbappe had lost multiple Chinese sponsorship deals.
The deals were lost after a viral meme prompted public backlash.
Mbappe described a video of himself merged with that of late Chinese leader Mao Zedong as the funniest meme he had ever seen of himself and called it “a Chinese dictator.”
The comment caused international outrage and the Chinese companies officially terminated their endorsement deals with Mbappe, citing actions that “hurt national sentiment.”
Later, Mbappe took to social media and released a statement apologising for his comment saying it was “ill-judged”.
He wrote “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.”
Spain’s La Liga also apologised acknowledging that Mbappe’s comments had hurt the sentiments of Chinese fans.