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The Democratic Republic of Congo has urged top European football clubs such as Arsenal, Bayern Munich, and Paris Saint-Germain to terminate their sponsorship contracts with the Rwandan government’s tourism campaign, “Visit Rwanda.” This is in the wake of mounting tensions and an Increasingly dire humanitarian situation in eastern DRC, where the Rwanda-sponsored M23 rebels have scaled up their operations.
The DRC's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner, wrote to club administrations asking those clubs to sever their partnership deals. Wagner alluded to the moral gray areas of retaining such sponsorships given Rwanda’s alleged intervention in conflict. Indeed, according to a UN report, as many as 4,000 Rwandan troops were operating within the DRC, providing support to the rebels of M23—a rebel group accused of the most heinous forms of human rights abuses, including summary executions and rape.
The Visit Rwanda campaign has been the most aggressive promotional activity of Rwanda’s government towards increasing tourism inflows and remolding its global image. In 2018, Arsenal inaugurated their sleeve partnership with an estimated worth above £10 million per year, followed by PSG in 2019, while Bayern Munich entered the five-year deal in 2023.
Critics, on the other hand, have said that those sponsorships were just “sportswashing,” wherein Rwanda simply tries to take away attention from its controversial behavior in the DRC. Human Rights Watch has accused Rwanda of using high-profile sports partnerships to divert attention away from its record on human rights and its role in regional conflict.
Things have worsened dramatically in eastern DRC, as the M23 rebels captured Goma, the biggest city in that region, which has been characterized by heavy displacements and suffering among the civilians. At least 700 people were killed, and 2,800 injured in clashes in recent days, the United Nations said.
In her letter, Minister Wagner also made moral questions about the clubs for keeping associations with Rwanda and suggested that all this money could well come from the illegal exploitation of mineral resources of the DRC. She called on the teams to terminate their “bloodstained” deals in the name of their conscience and the victims of Rwandan aggression.
Meanwhile, the international community is increasingly coming under pressure regarding the rival dynamic that undergirds the conflict. Calls for football clubs to dump “Visit Rwanda” sponsorships shine a light on the wider ethical implications of corporate partnerships related to conflict and human rights abuses.
The relevant football clubs and the Rwandan government have not issued any statements in response to these petitions so far.
