After eight years, the club parts ways with a partner that drew fierce criticism from fans and human rights groups.
Arsenal Football Club has confirmed its landmark sleeve sponsorship deal with Visit Rwanda will conclude at the end of the current season, bringing an end to one of the Premier League’s most contentious commercial partnerships.
The eight-year agreement, which made the Rwandan tourism board the club’s first-ever sleeve sponsor, had long been a point of friction. A section of the fanbase never warmed to the deal, with one supporter group launching a public campaign to scrap it, even erecting a satirical “Visit Tottenham” billboard near the Emirates Stadium as a form of protest.
The decision to not renew the contract was heavily influenced by political and human rights concerns. Earlier this year, the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo publicly pressured Arsenal to end the partnership amid regional conflict. Furthermore, the club’s official LGBTQ+ supporters’ group, Gay Gooners, welcomed the news, having been “uncomfortable with the deal from the start” due to Rwanda’s record on LGBT+ rights.
In a survey of its global membership, an overwhelming 86% of respondents wanted the £10 million-a-year deal terminated.
In a statement, Arsenal Chief Executive Richard Garlick looked to the partnership’s positives, thanking the Rwanda Development Board. “Our first-ever sleeve partnership with Visit Rwanda has been a significant journey,” Garlick said. “We’ve worked together to raise global awareness of Rwanda’s tourism and conservation efforts.”
Despite the official praise, the move signals a clear response to sustained pressure from the Arsenal community, closing a chapter that had become as much about geopolitics and human rights as it was about football.
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