DR Congo asks clubs to end Visit Rwanda sponsorship
A poster showing the new Rwanda-Arsenal partnership. Rwanda on May 23, 2018 became the official tourism partner of English football club Arsenal FC, whose players will sport a "Visit Rwanda" logo on their sleeves.
The Democratic Republic of Congo’s Foreign minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner has urged football clubs Arsenal, Bayern Munich and Paris St Germain to end their "blood-stained" sponsorship agreements with "Visit Rwanda" following the worsening humanitarian crisis in the country.
The DR Congo Health ministry said on Saturday there were almost 800 bodies in hospital morgues around Goma following the offensive by Rwanda-backed M23 rebels to seize east Congo's largest city, home to lucrative gold, coltan and tin mines.
The latest escalation has worsened a long-standing humanitarian crisis that has driven hundreds of thousands to seek shelter in Goma after fleeing fighting between M23 and Congolese troops.
The fighting has led to human rights violations including summary executions, the bombing of displacement camps, reports of gang rape and other sexual violence, according to the United Nations.
Wagner wrote to the three clubs this week and questioned the morality of their sponsorship deals, citing a U.N. report that suggested there were 4,000 Rwandan troops active in DR Congo.
"Thousands are currently trapped in the city of Goma with restricted access to food, water, and security," Wagner said in her letters to the clubs, according to a media statement from her ministry on Sunday.
"Countless lives have been lost; rape, murder and theft prevail. Your sponsor is directly responsible for this misery. If not for your own consciences, then the clubs should do it (end their sponsorship agreement) for the victims of Rwandan aggression."
Rwanda says it is defending itself, accusing Congo's military of joining forces with ethnic Hutu-led militias bent on slaughtering Tutsis in Congo and threatening Rwanda, where Hutus targeted Tutsis in a 1994 genocide and some later fled to Congo.
Congo denies this and accuses Rwanda of using M23 to pillage valuable minerals from Congolese territory.
"Visit Rwanda" began their sponsorship of Arsenal in 2018, with the latest deal reported to be worth more than 10 million pounds ($12.39 million) per year.
Bayern Munich signed a five-year football development and tourism promotion partnership with Rwanda in 2023, while "Visit Rwanda" has been a sponsor of PSG since 2019.
Reuters has contacted the three clubs and "Visit Rwanda" for comment.
British foreign minister David Lammy told parliament on Tuesday Rwanda received over $1 billion in global aid every year, including around 32 million pounds of bilateral UK assistance, but "all of that is under threat when you attack your neighbours."
