FURIA has apologized to Chinese fans following a social media controversy involving a meme that combined the face of team captain FalleN with a portrait of Mao Zedong. The post, which was shared on Instagram, quickly drew criticism from the Chinese community, prompting the organization to remove it.

The incident comes as China prepares to host major esports events, including the FISSURE Playground 3 and IEM Beijing tournaments this year. FURIA, which won the IEM Chengdu tournament last year by defeating Vitality 3-0 in the final, acknowledged the mistake and announced plans to study Chinese culture to better understand and respect it.

In a statement, FURIA admitted the error was due to an internal oversight and expressed their commitment to learning from the experience. The organization also thanked their Chinese friends in Brazil for assisting them in this process.

“This was a mistake in our internal review process. This week, together with our Chinese friends living in Brazil, we will begin the process of studying Chinese culture, which will help the team truly understand and respect this culture,” FURIA said.