FLASH
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The sponsorship deals that three European giants have signed with Rwanda are controversial in the eyes of many. There are growing calls for them to be terminated.
" Rwanda is known as the land of a thousand hills, as its beautiful landscape and warm, friendly people offer you a unique experience in one of the most extraordinary places in the world. It is rich in extraordinary biodiversity, as its volcanoes, mountain forests and vast plains are home to incredible wildlife ."
This is how Rwanda is presented by the website 'Visit Rwanda', which offers tourism and business opportunities in this Central African country. It is a state project that has attracted a lot of attention due to its connection with some of the biggest European football clubs. Especially now, when the political situation in the country is even worse than before.
The Rwandan government has been a sponsor of London's Arsenal, one of the world's richest clubs, since 2018. The following year, PSG also signed a similar agreement and in 2023, Bayern Munich signed a five-year contract with the Rwandan government. PSG also opened its academy in the southern city of Huje in 2020.
We are used to Middle Eastern autocracies, American, Russian and Chinese billionaires, etc., investing in football for a variety of reasons. What is far more surprising is that one of the poorest and most repressive countries in the world is engaging in so-called “sportswashing”. Currently, the regime of Rwandan President Paul Kagame is paying Arsenal £10 million a year to have the slogan “Visit Rwanda” on the sleeves of their shirts, while 48.8 percent of the population (around 6.5 million people) live in absolute poverty.
Rwanda entered the world's collective consciousness in 1994 because of the brutal civil war between the Tutsis and Hutus and the horrific genocide that resulted from this armed conflict. Hutu extremists killed an estimated one million Tutsis and moderate Hutus during that time. The winner of the civil war, the Tutsi warlord Paul Kagame, has been in power since 2000.
The international NGO 'Human Rights' describes the current situation in the country as follows: " Arbitrary detention, ill-treatment and torture in official and unofficial detention centers are common, and fair trial standards are routinely violated in a number of politically sensitive cases, in which state security charges are often used as a pretext to prosecute government critics. "
“ Rwanda is one of the most repressive countries in Africa ,” British investigative journalist Mikela Urong, who wrote a book on the subject, told The Guardian in 2021. “ There is immense poverty. All the elections in Rwanda are rigged, everyone knows that. What’s worse is that there is an unrelenting desire to hunt down and silence critics of the government who live abroad .”
In 2021, the three-year sponsorship deal between Arsenal and Kagame's regime expired, but was extended despite public criticism. Both sides expressed satisfaction, especially Rwanda, as tourism revenues in the country increased by 8% as a result of the collaboration with Arsenal.
PSG also extended its contract with Rwanda until May 2023, and in August of the same year, Bayern joined this “happy group.” The Bavarians presented the five-year contract with the autocratic regime as a partnership that will help develop football in the African country.
Particularly unflattering was the description of Rwanda in Bayern's press release: " Over the past two decades, the country has experienced political and social stability, supported by strong economic growth. Rwanda is known for its quality governance, commitment to sustainability and the important role that women play in society ."
The fact that such a prominent European club, one of the biggest football clubs in the world, is following the regime's propaganda that has no connection to reality is certainly extremely unusual, not to mention shameful. Especially when we know that a club like Bayern has no problem attracting sponsors and would easily give up the amount it receives from the Rwandan state.
In January of this year, the idyll between the three superclubs and the Rwandan regime was somewhat disrupted by the escalation of the armed conflict in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. In the North Kivu province, which borders Rwanda, the rebel group M23 (Mouvement du 23 mars) attacked and captured the largest city, Goma.
The M23 is led by Congolese Tutsis who have the support of the Rwandan regime. They were aided by at least 4,000 Rwandan soldiers in the attack on Goma. The rebel army, with the support of Kagame, occupied the city in 2012 and committed many war crimes. At that time, the army of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with the support of the United Nations, expelled them, but in 2022 they returned and again destabilized the region.
Goma is now back in their hands, so the situation in the area is extremely tense. Congolese Foreign Minister Theresa Kajikuamba Wagner called on Arsenal, PSG and Bayern to end their controversial cooperation with the Rwandan regime.
" Countless lives have been lost, rapes, murders and thefts are rampant. Your sponsorship is directly responsible for this. If not for their own conscience, then the clubs should do this for the victims of the Rwandan aggression ." According to the United Nations, more than 700 people were killed and about 2,800 were injured in the attack in Goma.
The clubs did not respond to the Congolese Foreign Minister's call.
" These sponsorships have cleansed Rwanda in the eyes of the world," Mikela Urong told DW News. "Rwanda, which is a very poor country, has decided to spend its money to support these clubs. It has signed contracts to host the cycling world championship, hopes to host a Formula 1 race in Rwanda and is creating an image of a modern, progressive, clean and safe African country. At the same time, it is intervening very intensively, where there is chaos and death in neighboring Congo ."
And what is it really about? Why are wealthy Western European clubs happily cooperating with an autocratic regime from a poor African country? The answer lies in global geopolitics.
Eastern Congo is rich in mineral deposits and ores that are essential for high technology, which is why superpowers like the US and China are interested in this unfortunate part of the world. The Chinese are on the side of the Democratic Republic of Congo in the conflict, while the Americans support the Kagame regime.
So Western European clubs are cooperating with a Western-backed regime. And that really shouldn't be a surprise. This is the world we live in.
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