Aston Villa have just announced their new shirt sponsor, which has also sparked controversy.
Aston Villa have just unveiled their new front-of-shirt sponsor to replace Betano. Their new sponsor, Visit Rwanda, will appear on the front of Aston Villa’s shirts from the 2026/27 season. It replaces Betano due to the restriction on front-of-shirt betting sponsorships for Premier League clubs.
The club’s President of Business Operations, Francesco Calvo, released a statement, as reported by BBC.
“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 working with Visit Rwanda since the 2024/25 season, with Francesco Calvo himself responsible for negotiating the deal. Previously, the branding did not appear on the front of the shirt.
The new agreement, reportedly worth £20 million per year, has been criticised by Amnesty International. Rwanda has a long-running conflict with the Democratic Republic of Congo, and it has been accused of supporting armed groups in the country and carrying out illegal military operations in the eastern part of the DR Congo.
Amnesty International UK’s Head of Campaigns, Felix Jakens, raised his concerns to BBC Sport.
“It’s not new that Rwanda is using sportswashing to deflect attention from its terrible human rights record. 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.”
Unfortunately, the club’s management has not responded to any inquiries regarding those concerns, nor have they made any further comment while being contacted.
Visit Rwanda has sponsored several clubs in Europe. Some have continued their partnerships, while others have ended them.
PSG and Atletico Madrid are among those that continue to work with Visit Rwanda. Le Parisien extended their sponsorship in April 2025 until 2028, while Los Rojiblancos have featured the logo on their shirts for the past three years.
Arsenal are one of the clubs that ended their partnership with Visit Rwanda at the end of last season. They had worked together for eight years, from 2018. Their final-year deal was reportedly worth £10 million.
Meanwhile, Bayern Munich did not end their collaboration. Instead, they shifted it from a commercial sponsorship to a football development partnership by focusing on expanding a football academy in Kigali with the assistance of the Rwandan government.
Following the criticism, only time will tell whether Villa would contiue their collaboration or not. One thing for sure, the club desperately is in need of such financial support.
The post Aston Villa and their new controversial sponsorship, will it continue? appeared first on AVillaFan.com – Aston Villa Fan Site.
