A group of Arsenal supporters have opted for a satirical approach in their campaign against the club’s sponsorship deal with Visit Rwanda.
Gunners For Peace unveiled a ‘Visit Tottenham’ billboard outside the Emirates Stadium and said that the club’s supporters would rather visit their arch rivals than continue to support the African regime.
Arsenal first signed a £10million-a-year shirt-sleeve agreement with Visit Rwanda, which is part of the Rwanda Development Board governmental body, in 2018, lasting three seasons, which was extended in 2021.
As well as appearing on the shirt sleeves of Arsenal’s men’s, women’s and youth teams, the Visit Rwanda logo is also on LED boards on matchdays at the Emirates Stadium and interview backdrops.
The agreement has seen several past and present Arsenal players travel to Rwanda for sponsored content; David Luiz ’s trip in 2019 was particularly memorable, as he stalked a gorilla in the jungle.
Last month, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) government wrote a letter to Arsenal owners Stan and Josh Kroenke asking that they end the ‘blood-stained sponsorship deal’ after an invasion of DRC territory involving Rwanda-backed rebel group M23. The invasion of the city of Goma, home to about as many people as the populations of Leeds and Newcastle combined, has caused an estimated 3,000 deaths, according to United Nations officials.
Gunners For Peace unveiled a ‘Visit Tottenham ‘ billboard outside the Emirates Stadium
Visit Rwanda has adorned Arsenal’s shirt sleeves since 2018 and they extended the deal four years ago
The Rwandan government, led by President – and avid Arsenal fan – Paul Kagame, stands accused of serial abuses by multiple human rights groups
As part of the protest, the group will be handing out armbands so supporters can cover up the Visit Rwanda branding on their shirts during Arsenal’s clash against Crystal Palace on Wednesday night.
Gunners for Peace have also produced a sardonic tourist video for the home of their bitter rivals Tottenham.
‘Arsenal is a great club. We have standards,’ reads the billboard outside the Emirates Stadium. ‘Which is why Visit Rwanda needs to end. This is the same regime that’s funding a brutal militia with thousands of victims in Eastern Congo. We think anything – literally anything – would be better than Visit Rwanda. Even Tottenham.’
James Turner of the Gunners For Peace supporter group told The Telegraph: ‘It’s hard to think of a worse sponsor than Visit Rwanda, and together with many other Arsenal fans we are calling on the club to drop them.’
Mail Sport understands the Gunners are exploring more lucrative sponsorship alternatives and are considering not renewing the partnership for a third term. The legacy of the deal, Arsenal’s commercial revenue situation and the increasing trend of Premier League teams partnering with foreign nations for millions make for a complicated picture.
