On October 27, many Chinese companies announced the termination of cooperation with French star Kylian Mbappe.
Dongpeng Beverage Group issued a statement on its official Weibo in the morning, stating that the company firmly opposes and has zero tolerance for behaviors that hurt national sentiments, and will terminate all cooperation with Mbappe with immediate effect; Mengniu Dairy,Mokelando also issued statements one after another stating that it would terminate all cooperation with Mbappe.
In the face of the turmoil, Swiss sports brand On, which just announced the signing of Mbappe in September this year, has also attracted attention from the outside world.
According to Southern Metropolis Daily,At present, Angpao’s official Weibo cannot search for content related to Mbappe. Angpao customer service responded that it has received relevant feedback and recorded it and forwarded it to the relevant departments. For the official explanation on this matter, please refer to the information released by the brand’s official channels.
According to The Paper, relevant parties from China Central Radio and Television confirmed that in response to Mbappe’s serious negative behavior related to China, CCTV has completely suspended the broadcast of events involving La Liga and Mbappe starting last night, and all advertisements involving Mbappe have been removed from the shelves.
According to @LALIGA La Liga Weibo, La Liga issued an official statement on October 27 saying that La Liga deeply regrets the offense and harm caused to Chinese fans by Mbappe’s recent remarks. The relevant remarks are the personal expressions of the players and in no way represent the position of La Liga. As a league governing body, within the scope of our responsibilities, La Liga would like to express our sincere apology to Chinese fans on behalf of the league and all its clubs. La Liga is working with its Chinese partners and relevant institutions to properly handle this incident and strive to avoid a similar situation from happening again.
A series of chain reactions of business cooperation originated from Mbappe’s inappropriate remarks. according toSports information platform understands the football emperorA statement was issued late at night on October 26 stating thatMbappe, who plays for Real Madrid, made inappropriate remarks related to China during an interview. His remarks were harmful to China and the Chinese people, and many media refused to translate or paraphrase them.
Previously, Mbappe has repeatedly caused public controversy due to his public words and deeds. On the eve of the 2022 World Cup, he refused to cooperate with some of the French national team’s sponsors’ commercial filming due to differences in values. During the 2024 European Cup, as the captain of the French team, he publicly made relevant statements related to his country’s election, which aroused polarizing comments in France. However, most of the above-mentioned controversies were limited to the football circle or the local public opinion field in France. They did not touch the red line of the brand’s core values and did not cause the cooperative brand to terminate the contract.
The cooperation between Angpa and Mbappe has just begun. On September 18, Mbappe officially bid farewell to Nike, which he had cooperated with for nearly 20 years, and signed a contract with Angpa. The two parties reached a 10-year global brand ambassador cooperation agreement. The contract remuneration structure includes cash and Angpa equity. Mbappe not only serves as a global spokesperson, but also directly participates in the development and testing of football shoes and apparel products as a “co-creation partner”.
According to the brand plan, Angpa plans to launch its first football shoe product in 2027, and has hired French football star Henry as football business director. For Angpa, which started out as a professional running shoe, this cooperation is a key step for it to copy the “star athlete + product research and development” binding model and expand the football track after entering the tennis market by cooperating with tennis star Federer.
The Chinese market plays an important role in Angpa’s global market. According to Angpa’s financial report, in the first half of 2026, net sales in the Asia-Pacific region reached 344.5 million Swiss francs, a year-on-year increase of 43.7%, and an increase of 58.1% based on fixed exchange rates. It is the fastest growing region of the group, and its proportion of global total sales increased from 16.2% in the same period last year to 20.5%.
Among them, Asia-Pacific net sales in the second quarter were 170.5 million Swiss francs, a fixed exchange rate increase of 54.7%. The performance of all channels in Greater China exceeded the company’s expectations. In comparison, Angpa’s overall global growth slowed down in the second quarter, and the growth rate in the North American market fell sharply. The Chinese market is the brand’s most important growth pillar.
Angpa did not separately disclose the independent revenue of the Greater China region, but it has made it clear in multiple performance communications that the Greater China region is the core of growth in the Asia-Pacific and is currently the brand’s second largest single market in the world.
As of the first half of 2026, Angpa has entered more than 30 cities in China, and the number of directly operated stores has exceeded 80; the brand has officially set a goal of reaching 100 stores in Greater China by the end of 2026.
Angpa uses a high-proportion direct-operated DTC model in China. It adds 20 to 25 direct-operated stores globally every year, about half of which are located in China. In March 2026, Angpao launched its largest flagship store in China. The store is located in Shenzhen Vientiane World, covering an area of 802 square meters.
In sports brand endorsement contracts, the core of the constraints on the words and deeds of celebrities is the morals/reputation clause, which is standard configuration of leading brands. The more high-dollar, long-term, and in-depth the co-creation contract, the terms will be written in more detail and the scope of constraints will be wider. It is not limited to speeches in advertising shots, but also includes private interviews and speeches on social platforms.
Since Angpa’s establishment, there has been no public precedent of initiating an official announcement to terminate cooperation due to negative scandals or inappropriate remarks by co-stars or athletes.
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