Aston Villa signs £20m-a-year shirt sponsorship deal with Visit Rwanda

Image caption: Villa have signed a multi-year agreement with Visit Rwanda

By Nick Mashiter Football reporter

Aston Villa have been warned their new £20m-a-year sponsorship deal with Visit Rwanda will be used by the nation to sportswash its human rights record.

The African country's tourist board will replace Betano on the front of Villa's shirts for the men's, women's and academy teams in a multi-year agreement.

The Premier League club have branded the move "the most important sponsorship deal in the history of the football club," but Felix Jakens, Amnesty International UK's head of campaigns, has raised concerns.

Last month, the Democratic Republic of Congo filed a case against Rwanda at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), accusing its neighbour of breaching multiple international treaties. DR Congo said Rwanda had dispatched forces and backed armed groups to carry out unlawful military operations on its territory following the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

Rwanda has long dismissed evidence that it backs rebel groups in the country, but UN experts and Western governments are among various parties who say Rwanda is supporting the M23, a major armed group in DR Congo's east.

"It's not new that Rwanda is using sportswashing to deflect attention from its terrible human rights record," said Jakens in a statement to BBC Sport.

"Aston Villa should be well aware that Rwanda is seeking to leverage this partnership to create positive PR. The country is prolific in arbitrary detention, torture and the repression of free speech – these are abuses at home.

"We are seeing bloodshed right before our eyes in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Rwanda is playing a significant role in fuelling that conflict – both through its support to the M23 rebels and the direct actions of its military in Eastern Congo.

"Rwanda's sportswashing needs to be called out, and we'd like Aston Villa and the Premier League to play their part in this."

Villa needed to replace Betano after Premier League clubs agreed to withdraw gambling sponsorship from the front of their matchday shirts by the end of last season.

President of business operations Francesco Calvo negotiated the deal, his first major one since replacing Chris Heck last year.

Calvo said in a club statement: "This is a very exciting partnership for Aston Villa and a symbol of the club's continuing expansion and growth into international markets.

"There is a great range and depth of opportunities for collaboration, learning and innovation and we are looking forward to working with Visit Rwanda to deliver meaningful activations through tourism, investment and sporting development."

Aston Villa have been contacted for further comment.

Previous Deals Have Brought Controversy

Image caption: Arsenal's sleeve sponsorship with Visit Rwanda previously led to protests

Visit Rwanda's deals with Arsenal, Bayern Munich and Paris St-Germain have come under scrutiny.

• Last year, PSG fans started a petition calling on the Ligue 1 champions to end the partnership.
• Arsenal fans campaigned against the new Premier League champions renewing their deal, with the Gunners for Peace group suggesting Tottenham would be a better sleeve sponsor.
• Last year, DR Congo urged the Gunners, Bayern and PSG to end their "blood-stained" sponsorship deals amid a worsening humanitarian crisis in the country.

DR Congo's Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner wrote to the owners of Arsenal, Bayern Munich and PSG regarding the matter.