Real Madrid faces backlash from Chinese netizens over listing Xizang alongside Nepal

The Spanish soccer club Real Madrid has drawn sharp criticism from Chinese netizens after publishing social media tributes in both English and Spanish to mudslide victims in Nepal and China's Xizang autonomous region, using phrasing that ignited anger. The club has yet to correct or remove the posts.

Players and fans observed a minute of silence before a fixture at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium on Sunday to honor lives lost in a deadly mudslide along the Nepal-China border. Real Madrid shared a photo of the pre-match commemoration across its official Spanish and English language accounts on social platform X, with text referring to victims "in Nepal and Tibet".

As of press time, both the Spanish and English language posts remain live on its overseas X pages, having garnered hundreds of thousands of views. No corresponding tribute was published on Real Madrid's Chinese language Weibo profile, even though the club has regularly shared announcements for pre-match moments of silence on that domestic platform in the past.

In contrast, fellow clubs including FC Barcelona marked their own minute of silence ceremonies, referencing the disaster "along the border between Nepal and China".

Real Madrid's phrasing quickly ignited anger on Chinese social media, where trending online hashtags demanded the club delete the post, revise its wording, and deliver a formal, sincere apology to Chinese audiences.

A commentary piece from Chinese media stated that the humanitarian gesture of holding a silence had been undermined by the inaccurate wording. It emphasized that Xizang is an inalienable part of China's territory, and framing it side by side with sovereign nation Nepal ran counter to the one-China principle.

Real Madrid has a large fan base across China and long-term commercial interests throughout Asia, meaning its public communications are held to higher standards of sensitivity on territorial-sovereignty issues. No correction, deletion, or formal statement from Real Madrid addressing the outcry had been issued as of Wednesday.