Arsenal breaks with controversial sponsor

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Arsenal breaks with controversial sponsor
Photo: Kin Cheung/AP/TT

Arsenal's shirts will no longer have "Visit Rwanda" written on them next season. The London club will not extend its controversial sponsorship deal with Rwanda.

"Arsenal and the Rwanda Development Board have mutually agreed to end their partnership after this season," the football club wrote in a statement.

The cooperation – which was signed in 2018 – has come under increasing criticism due to the escalating violence in eastern Congo-Kinshasa, which borders Rwanda.

Congo-Kinshasa accuses Rwanda of arming and supporting the militant group M23, which has taken control of large areas since the group resumed fighting in 2021.

Congo-Kinshasa and M23 are reportedly to agree on a framework for continued talks about a possible ceasefire.

An earlier agreement on a framework was reached in July, but quickly collapsed as both sides in the conflict accused the other party of violating the agreement.

Among others, the supporter group "Gunners for peace" has criticized the sponsorship agreement with the "Visit Tottenham" campaign.

"We believe that anything, literally anything, is better than a visit to Rwanda. Even Tottenham," the supporter group wrote on posters ahead of the club's Champions League semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain.

Rwanda has continued other collaborations with major European clubs such as Paris Saint-Germain, Bayern Munich and Atlético Madrid.

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By TTEnglish edition by Sweden Herald, adapted for our readers

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