On February 2, the foreign ministers of the United Kingdom, copyright, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States released a joint statement on the escalation of violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The G7 ministers united to “strongly condemn” what they describe as the “Rwanda-backed M23 offensive” in the region.
That same afternoon, Arsenal played against Manchester City in a match that was watched by 60,000 supporters in north London and millions of television viewers around the world. The Arsenal players produced a fabulous performance, scoring five goals and demolishing the champions, and they did so with the words “Visit Rwanda” emblazoned on their shirts. Paul Kagame, the Rwandan president and an Arsenal fan, tweeted his congratulations.
Arsenal cannot choose their supporters but they can choose their business partners, and their decision to promote Rwanda has become impossible to justify. Now, as United Nations officials estimate that nearly 3,000 people have been killed in the city of Goma, there can be little doubt that the deal is becoming a stain on the club’s name.
The situation in Goma, in eastern DRC, is almost unspeakably horrific: Vivian van de Perre, a senior UN official, said last week that dead bodies are decomposing on the streets. The latest assessment is that 2,000 bodies have been collected from the city, while 900 remain in morgues. The World Health Organisation is concerned about potential epidemic outbreaks.
The UN has long maintained that Rwanda is backing the M23 rebels (which Rwanda denies). A group of experts said in a report last year that Rwandan forces have “de facto control and direction over M23 operations” and that the country is therefore “liable for the actions of M23”.
Protesters outside the Embassy of Rwanda in Brussels voice their opposition to the rebel offensives in the Democratic Republic of Congo - Getty Images/Simon Wohlfahrt
As evidenced by their statement last weekend, the G7 powers have no doubts over Rwanda’s involvement in the conflict. David Lammy, the foreign secretary, has warned Rwanda that it risks jeopardising the significant global aid it receives every year, saying: “All of that is under threat when you attack your neighbours.”
All of which should make for deeply uncomfortable reading for Arsenal, who first partnered with the Rwanda Development Board, a government institution, in 2018 (the deal was then extended in 2021). At the same time as many in the international community are condemning Rwanda’s actions, one of England’s most influential sporting institutions is promoting the country on its kit. It is, plainly, an unedifying juxtaposition.
Arsenal, it should be said, are not alone in football in partnering with Rwanda. There are similar arrangements at Paris St-Germain and Bayern Munich, and last week all three clubs were urged by the DRC to end their “blood-stained” sponsorship deals. Therese Kayikwamba Wagner, the DRC’s foreign minister, wrote: “Countless lives have been lost; rape, murder and theft prevail. Your sponsor is directly responsible for this misery.”
Paris St-Germain also have a sponsorship deal with Visit Rwanda - Dave Winter/Getty Images
Bayern, for their part, have since sent two employees to Rwanda to “monitor the situation”, while the club is also in contact with the German foreign ministry.
For Arsenal, is the deal really still worth it? It is believed to be worth around £10 million a year. A significant sum for a club that lost £52 million in their latest accounts, but hardly a game-changing deal for their financial future. According to analysis by Deloitte, Arsenal generated around £600 million in revenues in the 2023-24 season.
Only Arsenal’s executives can truly assess whether the cash they are receiving from the Rwanda sponsorship deal outweighs the reputational damage that is being done to their brand. Looking in from the outside, though, it feels like there is no longer an argument to be made on that front.
To be clear, this is not the first time that Arsenal have been criticised for partnering with Rwanda. Telegraph Sport understands that supporter groups have raised concerns with the club in previous years, while the UK’s controversial Rwanda deportation scheme inevitably added a new focus to the name on Arsenal’s shirts.
On an economic level, too, many have questioned why a country that receives aid from the UK — around £32 million per year — has then spent so heavily on sponsoring an English football team (especially when that team is supported by Rwanda’s president). On this front, the Rwanda Development Board has defended itself strongly.
“Anyone who criticises our deal with Arsenal on account of Rwanda being poor or an aid recipient, either wishes for Rwanda to be perpetually so, or doesn’t understand that in any business marketing costs are a key component of a company’s expenditures,” said Clare Akamanzi, then the chief executive of the Rwanda Development Board, in 2018.
Indeed, Arsenal’s original stated description of the partnership was that they were supporting Rwanda’s ambition to build its tourism industry. As part of that, they have regularly sent players and staff to the country — in 2019, Telegraph Sport conducted an interview with former Arsenal defender David Luiz, who had just visited Rwanda and spoke of learning about its history.
These issues, and others (including Foreign Office concerns, stated in 2021, over restrictions to civil and political rights in Rwanda) have mostly bubbled in the background since Arsenal signed the deal. The “Visit Rwanda” slogan on their sleeves, and at the Emirates Stadium, has effectively become part of the furniture. And, it must be said, Arsenal are far from alone in football in having a morally questionable sponsorship arrangement.
But the horrors in Goma, and the explicit description by the British government of the M23 rebels as “Rwanda-backed”, adds a fresh layer of discomfort to this strange deal between club and country. The violence is causing “immense human suffering”, the UN said this week, and Rwanda is widely accepted to be complicit in that suffering. This is the country, and by extension the regime, that Arsenal are promoting. The sooner they can sever the tie, the better.
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