The crisis engulfing Kylian Mbappé in China rumbles on. Comments attributed to the Real Madrid star about a satirical image of former Chinese leader Mao Zedong have snowballed into an affair that threatens Spanish football's ties with the Chinese market, with media and commercial fallout mounting by the day.
Ramón Álvarez, a journalist at Radio Marca, reckons Real Madrid will break their silence before long.
"It is very likely that Real Madrid will issue a statement within a short time regarding the Mbappé and China crisis," Álvarez wrote on X.
He stopped short of revealing what any statement might contain, and he would not confirm the club had settled on issuing one.
All this follows a bombshell from Spain's official news agency: Chinese state broadcaster CCTV has pulled La Liga matches from the air, along with any fixtures involving Mbappé, while scrubbing advertisements and video clips featuring the France forward.
The move could land a serious blow to the commercial and media bond between La Liga and China. What began as criticism on social media has now spilled into sponsorship, advertising and broadcasting rights.
Before any of that, three Chinese companies had already walked away from their commercial partnerships with Mbappé.
Each justified the decision by rejecting statements or conduct they deemed offensive to Chinese national sentiment, after the row flared over the player's remarks about a satirical image splicing his features onto a picture of Mao Zedong.
Chinese sports platform Dongqiudi got dragged in too. It swapped Mbappé's name in the 2026 Ballon d'Or ranking for a phrase meaning "this person does not exist", despite the Frenchman finishing second behind England's Harry Kane, with Spain's Lamine Yamal third.
According to the Spanish agency EFE, it all kicked off when Mbappé was asked about his favourite satirical image. He replied that the one making him laugh the most showed his face superimposed on an image of a Chinese dictator, adding that he uses it a lot with his friends.
He never named Mao Zedong directly in the reported comment. Even so, the controversy latched onto a circulating image blending Mbappé's features with those of the former Chinese leader, and the backlash in China followed.
Tebas's apology
Javier Tebas moved quickly to limit the damage. The La Liga president apologised to the Chinese people on behalf of the league, voiced his regret for the resentment the incident had stirred, and insisted the league is working with its partners and the relevant parties in China to ride out the storm.
One individual incident, Tebas stressed, must not be allowed to wreck the relations the league has built with China over the years, nor hurt the more than 20 clubs playing in the professional competitions and the millions of Chinese fans.
For now, all eyes turn to Real Madrid. Will the club put out an official statement to spell out where they stand? The affair still reaches well beyond the player, biting into commercial and media interests tied to Spanish football.