Aston Villa warned Visit Rwanda deal could sportswash human rights record

Aston Villa’s new £20 million-a-year deal with Visit Rwanda has drawn criticism from Amnesty International, which warned the sponsorship could help burnish Rwanda’s human rights record. Villa named Visit Rwanda as its Principal Partner, Official Tourism Partner and Official Coffee Provider, and said the partnership was its most important sponsorship deal in the club’s history.

The agreement gives the Rwandan Development Board branding on the front of all men’s, women’s and academy shirts from the 2026/27 season. It also gives Visit Rwanda prominent placement across Villa’s commercial platforms, with the brand intended to promote Rwanda as a destination for tourism, investment, business and major sporting events, alongside football-development and charitable initiatives.

Visit Rwanda has already caused controversy at Arsenal, Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain, and the Democratic Republic of Congo government has urged clubs to end what it called “blood-stained” sponsorship deals. Arsenal’s Visit Rwanda agreement ends at the close of the 2025/26 season.

Human Rights Watch says Rwanda’s support for the M23 armed group in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has been linked to serious abuses. Amnesty International says serious violations in Rwanda have included enforced disappearances, extrajudicial executions, torture, arbitrary detention, excessive use of force and unfair trials. The group also says forced evictions associated with urban development projects in Kigali disproportionately affected low-income and marginalized residents.

A 2025 academic article in African Studies Review says football sponsorships and major sporting events have been used to win global legitimacy while drawing attention away from domestic and regional abuses.