Rwanda has been investing millions in its international image for years-including as a sponsor of large football clubs such as Arsenal, Paris Saint-Germain and FC Bayern Munich. But behind Rwanda’s clean facade there is a brutal reality.
The regime of Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame is accused of violations of human rights, political persecution and the massive support of a rebel group that wages war in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Foreign Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner, clearly criticizes the clubs in conversation with the sports show: “The clubs should rethink the partnership with Rwanda again and make a decision as soon as possible, but which actually clearly tells their fans, how they are to be in a partnership with a country, other countries attacking and leads to hundreds of thousands of children and men and men for their lives.”
Arsenal, PSG and Bayern Munich are silent on request
For years, critics have been asking the question of which Rwanda is financing the multi -million dollar sponsoring European top clubs. With the help of the M23 rebel group, Rwanda has been illegally reducing gold and Coltan from areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo for years.
“We simply openly ask the question to what extent football clubs can actually assume that the means that lead to these sponsorships do not come from ore mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo,” explains Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner. FC Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Arsenal FC and the Rwandian government did not want to comment on this accusation at the request of the sports show.
FC Bayern announced in February 2025 review
In February 2025, Jan-Christian Dreesen, CEO of FC Bayern, announced that he wanted to check the partnership with “Visit Rwanda”. You stand in exchange with the Federal Foreign Office. “Of course we deal with it. I personally sent one or two employees to Rwanda two days ago to get my own picture of the situation. We will finally deal with the matter and discuss the further steps “, Dreesen said in an interview with the Deutsche Welle. At the request of the sports show, what happened to the exams did not answer Bayern.
“It hurts”
But it is not just a government representative that raise the alarm. Human rights activists such as Carine Kanimba, daughter of the well-known Rwandian regime critic Paul Rusesabagina, also urge the image campaign of the Rwandian state. She herself became the goal of state surveillance while her father was tortured and detained under false terrorist allegations. “It hurts when western partners represent Rwanda as a reliable actor”, she says. “So many people have suffered from this regime – and when clubs like Bayern Munich or Arsenal accept their money, they contribute to legitimizing these methods.”