"Arsenal's controversial sponsorship partnership with Visit Rwanda will end in June, the club have announced. The deal, reportedly worth in the region of 10m a year, began in 2018 and has come under scrutiny amid Rwanda's support for the M23 militia in conflicts taking place in the eastern part of the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo."
"In February, Arsenal were accused of delivering an outrageous snub to the Congolese government by not meeting the foreign minister, Therese Kayikwamba Wagner, to discuss the deal. Visit Rwanda is an arm of the Rwanda Development Board, a government department, and it is widely believed Arsenal signed and stuck by the partnership in order to grow their fanbase in Africa."
"Richard Garlick, Arsenal's chief executive officer, described the partnership as a significant journey and claimed it had been driving forward the club's ambitions. But that is not how a section of Arsenal's fanbase viewed the arrangement, with the campaign group Gunners for Peace protesting outside the Emirates Stadium during the first leg of the Champions League semi-final encounter with Paris Saint-Germain in late April with a banner that read Drop Visit Rwanda. They also distributed armbands to cover up the Visit Rwanda logo on kits."
Arsenal's sponsorship with Visit Rwanda will end in June after a partnership that began in 2018 and reportedly paid around £10m per year. The deal attracted scrutiny amid allegations of Rwandan support for the M23 militia in eastern DR Congo, and the club faced criticism for not meeting the Congolese foreign minister. Visit Rwanda operates under the Rwanda Development Board and aimed to expand Arsenal's African fanbase. Both parties mutually agreed to end the arrangement. Arsenal credited the partnership with promoting conservation, sustainable tourism, and grassroots football, and said it supported Rwanda's ambition to become an international sporting hub. A campaign group, Gunners for Peace, protested and distributed armbands covering the logo.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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