Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has urged top European football clubs Arsenal, Bayern Munich, and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) to sever their sponsorship ties with Visit Rwanda, condemning the deals amid a worsening humanitarian crisis in the region.
The call comes as M23 rebels seized control of Goma, the largest city in eastern DRC, and the United Nations refugee agency reports that over 400,000 people have been displaced this year.
UN experts have accused the Rwandan army of effectively controlling M23 operations.
DRC’s Foreign Minister, Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner, sent letters to the clubs’ executives, questioning the ethics of continuing the sponsorships.
She raised concerns that Visit Rwanda’s funding could be linked to the illegal extraction of minerals from DRC’s occupied territories, with the minerals smuggled across the border to Rwanda for export.
In her letter to Arsenal, Kayikwamba Wagner stated that Rwanda’s responsibility in the ongoing conflict has become undeniable, following a UN report revealing the deployment of 4,000 Rwandan troops in DRC.
“It is time Arsenal ended its blood-stained sponsorship deals with this oppressor nation. If not for your own consciences, then the clubs should do it for the victims of Rwandan aggression,” she wrote.
Arsenal, PSG, Bayern Munich and Visit Rwanda have been contacted for comment.
Why are the Visit Rwanda deals controversial?
The Visit Rwanda campaign has successfully raised the East African country’s profile but Rwanda’s government has been accused of investing in sport to enhance its global image – a strategy labelled by critics as ‘sportswashing’.
A sleeve partnership with Arsenal began in 2018, with the latest sponsorship reported to be worth more than £10m ($12.39 million) per year.
A sponsorship with PSG was agreed the following year, and Bayern Munich signed a five-year football development and tourism promotion partnership with Rwanda in 2023.
Meanwhile, Rwanda President Paul Kagame has announced a bid to stage a Formula 1 race and Kigali is set to be the venue for cycling’s World Road Championships in September.
On Friday the UCI, cycling’s world governing body, said there were no plans to relocate the event away from Rwanda.
The Central Africa director at Human Rights Watch, a campaign group which investigates and reports on cases of abuse around the globe, says these deals and events help hide Rwanda’s “abysmal track record” on human rights.
“Rwanda has major flaws with due process which violate its own internal laws or international standards,” HRW’s Lewis Mudge told BBC Sport Africa last month.
“Increasingly we’re seeing the space for freedom of expression, for some degree of political autonomy, is actually shrinking.”
The Rwandan government has dismissed accusations of sportswashing, with its chief tourism officer Irene Murerwa calling them “a distraction” from the “amazing and outstanding achievements the country has made”.
What is the latest in eastern DR Congo?
Four armed militants wearing camouflage and holding guns sit on the back of a truck as another soldier with a grenade launcher on his shoulder walks past in the foreground.
The UN says at least 700 people have been killed in intense fighting in Goma since Sunday.
UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said 2,800 people have been injured, as M23 rebels – backed by Rwanda – captured the capital of North Kivu province.
The rebels are now reported to be moving south towards Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu.
The conflict in eastern DR Congo dates back to the 1990s but has rapidly escalated in recent weeks.
M23 , which is made up of ethnic Tutsis, say they are fighting for minority rights, while DR Congo’s government says the Rwanda-backed rebels are seeking control of the eastern region’s vast mineral wealth.
Authorities in Kigali have denied direct military involvement in the conflict, insisting its troops are only stationed along the border to protect its territory and civilians.