The Democratic Republic of Congo has urged Arsenal, Bayern Munich, and Paris St. Germain to cancel their “blood-stained” sponsorship ties with Visit Rwanda, citing the country’s deteriorating humanitarian catastrophe.
The appeal comes as M23 rebels occupy Goma, the main city in eastern DR Congo, and the UN refugee agency estimates that over 400,000 people have been displaced this year.
According to a committee of UN experts, the Rwandan army has “de facto control of M23 operations.”.
Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner, DR Congo’s foreign minister, has written to Arsenal and PSG owners, as well as Bayern president Herbert Hainer, to “question the morality” of the acquisitions.
She explained how Visit Rwanda’s sponsorship could be funded by illegal mining of blood minerals in DR Congo’s occupied territories, which are then transferred across the border and exported from Rwanda.
In her letter to Arsenal, Kayikwamba Wagner argued that Rwanda’s “culpability” for the current crisis “has become incontrovertible” following the UN’s allegation that 4,000 Rwandan troops are active in the DRC.
“It is time Arsenal ended its blood-stained sponsorship deals with this oppressive nation. If not for your own conscience, then the clubs should do it for the victims of Rwandan aggression,” she wrote.
The Visit Rwanda campaign has successfully enhanced the East African country’s reputation, but some accuse Rwanda’s government of investing in sports to improve its worldwide image, a practice known as sportswashing’.
A sleeve agreement with Arsenal began in 2018, with the most recent sponsorship estimated to be valued at more than £10 million ($12.39 million) annually.
The following year, a sponsorship agreement with PSG was reached, and in 2023, Bayern Munich entered into a five-year football development and tourism promotion collaboration with Rwanda.
Meanwhile, Rwandan President Paul Kagame has declared plans to host a Formula One race, while Kigali will host cycling’s World Road Championships in September.
On Friday, the UCI, cycling’s world governing body, stated that there were no intentions to move the event away from Rwanda.
The Central Africa head of Human Rights Watch, a campaign group that monitors and reports on examples of abuse around the world, says these accords and festivities help conceal Rwanda’s “abysmal track record” on human rights.
“Rwanda has major flaws with due process that 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 disputed allegations of sportswashing, with chief tourism officer Irene Murerwa calling them “a distraction” from the country’s “amazing and outstanding achievements.”
According to the UN, at least 700 people have died in fierce combat in Goma since Sunday.
According to UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric, 2,800 people were injured as M23 rebels, backed by Rwanda, took control of North Kivu province’s capital.
The rebels are now said to be heading south towards Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu.
The conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo began in the 1990s but has recently increased.
M23, which is made up of ethnic Tutsis, claims to be fighting for minority rights, but the DR Congo government claims the Rwanda-backed rebels want control of the eastern region’s rich mineral wealth.
Kigali authorities have denied any direct military involvement in the fighting, stating that their forces are just stationed along the border to protect their territory and citizens.
