Rwanda’s President has addressed growing speculation surrounding the country’s decision not to renew its long-standing tourism partnership with Arsenal, insisting the move was purely commercial and unrelated to external political pressure. The partnership, anchored under the “Visit Rwanda” brand, has run for eight years and has been one of the most visible sponsorships in global football.
Responding to questions about whether the end of the deal was influenced by European political pressure linked to regional tensions, the President dismissed that interpretation entirely.
“Eight years is not a short period,” he said, emphasizing the natural lifecycle of commercial agreements. “This partnership was commercial. A commercial partnership can be reviewed on different grounds. Either party may say: I am not comfortable with this or that. That is normal.”
He explained that contracts of this nature involve ongoing negotiations, and renewal terms depend on evolving expectations from both sides. “You negotiate today, maybe it goes two years or three years, then you come back to review it. New conditions may demand different things. One side can say: from our experience, we did not get enough in this area and we cannot continue paying for it. The other side can say the same,” he noted.
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According to him, the most recent talks with Arsenal involved proposed adjustments to the agreement adjustments on which both sides failed to reach consensus. “There was a negotiation that went on. There were adjustments to be made. Our people and theirs disagreed on a particular thing and said: ‘No, we can’t have this instead of what we have been having, or what we are demanding to have.’ Therefore, they reached a point where they said: instead of disagreeing too much, maybe you can find another partner who will satisfy you. If you do not want to listen to our demands. This is really what happened.”
He insisted that politics played no role, despite accusations from some circles that pressures from European lawmakers may have influenced the decision. “We still have Atletico Madrid, we still have PSG. These are European clubs. So that can’t be the issue,” he said.
The President also referenced repeated attempts by authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to lobby European institutions against Rwanda’s football sponsorships. “DRC went to the UK complaining about our partnership with Arsenal, saying they can’t work with a country like Rwanda and telling stories. They repeatedly made it an issue,” he said. “They even went to PSG. It did not work. People explained and we continued the partnership.”
He added that while those efforts failed, DRC later pursued their own club partnerships. “When it failed, they started looking for clubs to have partnerships with,” he remarked, citing recent commercials involving AS Monaco. “You are attacking a partnership and saying it is wrong. When you fail, you go looking for a similar thing. It shows they were doing it just to malice Rwanda.”
Even humor found its way into the President’s explanation, as he joked that if politics were involved, perhaps the real influence came from football rivalry. “Unless we want to overstretch it and assume that among the people who have influence were Tottenham fans. So you can understand—they would want to kill this one,” he laughed.
Despite the end of the Arsenal relationship, the President emphasized that Rwanda’s global sports tourism strategy is expanding, not shrinking. “If this partnership doesn’t work, it means we have opportunity with this money to open up another partnership somewhere else,” he said. “You’ve seen how we’ve been going as far as the United States. We are having beautiful partnerships with the NFL, with the NBA. And more will come.”
He added that his personal loyalty to Arsenal remains unchanged. “I will continue being an Arsenal fan, of course. I even go and watch in the stadium when I have time,” he said.
The President concluded by reaffirming that Rwanda’s sports-driven branding strategy is only widening. “By the time we realize, we are into many other partnerships,” he said.
