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# 5 Visit Rwanda Football Club Sponsorships, From Arsenal to Aston Villa
- URL: https://www.footballbusinessnews.com/5-visit-rwanda-football-club-sponsorships-from-arsenal-to-aston-villa/
- Published: 2026-11-13T11:25:13.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-13T11:25:13.000Z
- Description: Visit Rwanda's football portfolio runs from an ended Arsenal sleeve deal to Aston Villa's current front-of-shirt partnership, with Bayern, PSG and Atlético also documented.
- Author: Football Business News
- Tags: Sponsorship, Europe

Visit Rwanda has five documented football club sponsorship relationships, from an eight-season Arsenal sleeve deal that officially ended in June 2026 to Aston Villa's current front-of-shirt partnership. The other clubs are Bayern Munich, where the commercial tourism promotion has ended, Paris Saint-Germain and Atlético de Madrid. Fees were not disclosed in the official announcements opened for this article.

## Key facts

- Arsenal and the Rwanda Development Board said on 19 November 2025 that they had mutually agreed to end their partnership at the close of that season, in June 2026, after eight seasons as Arsenal's first official sleeve partner.
- Deutsche Welle reported on 8 August 2025 that Bayern Munich had said, in a statement on the club website, that the relationship would move away from commercial sponsorship to a football-development partnership around the FC Bayern Youth Academy in Kigali. DW quoted the club as saying the contract expiry date of 2028 remained unchanged.
- RFI reported on 17 April 2025 that Paris Saint-Germain had renewed its Visit Rwanda partnership, which began in 2019, through 2028, including sleeve use at the Club World Cup.
- Atlético de Madrid announced on 30 April 2025 a sponsorship through 30 June 2028, including training and warm-up kits and, from the following season, the back of men's and women's official match shirts.
- Aston Villa announced on 14 July 2026 that Visit Rwanda would be principal partner, official tourism partner and official coffee provider, with branding on the front of men's, women's and academy shirts. The club called it the most important sponsorship deal in its history. No fee was published.

__Visit Rwanda football club relationships verified from official announcements or reputable reporting. Arsenal's sleeve deal is not current. Fees are shown only where a named official source stated them.__
| Club                | Status                                                                     | Inventory, as announced or reported                                                                                                   | Term                                                                    |
| ------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Arsenal             | Ended, June 2026                                                           | Official sleeve partner for eight seasons                                                                                             | Concluded at the end of 2025/26                                         |
| Bayern Munich       | Commercial promotion ended, August 2025; development partnership continues | Previously pitchside tourism promotion; now focused on the FC Bayern Youth Academy in Kigali, according to DW citing a club statement | Contract expiry 2028 unchanged, according to that statement as reported |
| Paris Saint-Germain | Renewed, as reported                                                       | Sleeve at the Club World Cup; academy-kit rights in the US and Canada, according to RFI                                               | Through 2028, according to RFI                                          |
| Atlético de Madrid  | Official, current                                                          | Training and warm-up kits; from the following season, back of official match shirts for men and women                                 | Through 30 June 2028                                                    |
| Aston Villa         | Official, current                                                          | Front of men's, women's and academy shirts; principal partner, official tourism partner and official coffee provider                  | Announced 14 July 2026 for 2026/27 inventory                            |

## 1\. Arsenal: an eight-season sleeve deal, now ended

Arsenal's official update of 19 November 2025 said the club and the Rwanda Development Board had mutually agreed to conclude their partnership at the end of that season, bringing to a close an eight-season collaboration that included Visit Rwanda as Arsenal's first official sleeve partner. The club said the move reflected Visit Rwanda's broader strategy to diversify its global sports partnerships. Richard Garlick, Arsenal's chief executive, and Jean-Guy Afrika, chief executive of the Rwanda Development Board, were both quoted. The statement should not be read as a current 2026/27 sleeve deal. It is included because it is part of the official portfolio history.

The same Arsenal page said visitor arrivals reached 1.3 million in 2024, with tourism revenues rising to 650 million US dollars, a 47% increase since the partnership began. Those figures appear in the club's statement and are presented here as figures stated by the club in that update, not as independently audited totals.

## 2\. Bayern Munich: commercial promotion ended

Deutsche Welle reported on 8 August 2025 that Bayern Munich had announced it would no longer promote Visit Rwanda as a commercial tourism sponsorship. DW quoted a statement on the club website as saying: "The new arrangement transitions the relationship away from a commercial sponsorship to a dedicated partnership focusing on football development in Rwanda through the expansion of the FC Bayern Youth Academy in Kigali." The report said the previous agreement had included pitchside advertising and promotion of tourism and investment opportunities. DW also quoted CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen as saying the contract expiry date of 2028 remained unchanged. The commercial Visit Rwanda promotion should therefore not be described as current. The football-development relationship, on that reporting, continues.

## 3\. Paris Saint-Germain: renewal through 2028, as reported

An official Rwanda Development Board page on the PSG renewal exists, but it did not load at the time of writing. The account below follows RFI's 17 April 2025 report. RFI said Paris Saint-Germain had renewed its Visit Rwanda partnership, which began in 2019, through 2028, after the then-current agreement had been due to expire at the end of that year. Under the new deal, the Visit Rwanda logo would appear on the sleeve of the men's first-team shirt during the FIFA Club World Cup in the United States, and on training kits for PSG Academy teams in the US and Canada. PSG general manager Victoriano Melero was quoted. The club, RFI said, also pointed to the PSG Academy Rwanda, which since 2019 had provided training, education and mentoring to more than 400 young people.

RFI also reported criticism of the renewal. It said a group of PSG supporters had launched a petition in late January 2025 calling for the club to end the relationship, citing alleged Rwandan support for the M23 rebel group in eastern DRC, and that the petition gathered 75,000 signatures. In February, it reported, the Congolese foreign minister sent a letter to the club questioning the "morality" of maintaining the partnership, and that there had been no public response from PSG to the letter. RFI said the Congolese government and several rights groups have accused Kigali of supporting M23, "claims that Rwanda has repeatedly denied," and that a UN report had said there was "substantial evidence" of state support for the group. Those claims and denials are recorded here as reported, not as findings of this article.

## 4\. Atlético de Madrid

Atlético de Madrid announced on 30 April 2025 that it had signed an agreement with the Rwanda Development Board making Visit Rwanda a club sponsor until 30 June 2028\. The club said Visit Rwanda would appear on the front of the men's first team's training and warm-up kits in the remaining five LaLiga matches of that season, as well as at the Club World Cup. From the following season, it would also appear on the women's first team's training and warm-up kits and on the back of the official match jerseys of both teams. Visit Rwanda was named official sponsor in the training and tourist destination category, and official coffee supplier. Jean-Guy Afrika and Atlético general director of revenue and operations Óscar Mayo were quoted. No fee was published. The announcement's references to then-current deals at other clubs should be read in their April 2025 context. Arsenal's sleeve deal has since ended, and Bayern's commercial promotion has since changed.

## 5\. Aston Villa: the current Premier League front-of-shirt deal

Aston Villa announced on 14 July 2026 that Visit Rwanda would be the club's principal partner, official tourism partner and official coffee provider, with branding on the front of all men's, women's and academy teams' shirts. The club said the agreement "will be the most important sponsorship deal in the history of the football club." That is the club's own description. The announcement did not disclose a fee. Francesco Calvo, president of business operations, and Janet Karemera, chief executive of the Rwanda Convention Bureau, were quoted. Supporters who had already bought the 2026/27 home shirt were told they could have the branding applied free of charge in club stores. Villa's front-of-shirt deal also appears on the [Premier League shirt-sponsors list](https://www.footballbusinessnews.com/premier-league-shirt-sponsors-2026-27-every-deal/), which remains the page for every 2026/27 front-of-shirt pairing. This article is the portfolio view of Visit Rwanda's club relationships, not a recap of the rest of the Premier League shirt market.

## How to read the portfolio

Two of the five relationships have changed materially: Arsenal's sleeve deal is over, and Bayern's tourism promotion has been converted into a development partnership, according to the club statement reported by DW. PSG, Atlético and Villa are the current first-team commercial deals described in the sources above. This portfolio is separate from the Democratic Republic of the Congo's own club sponsorships, which are covered in [their own article](https://www.footballbusinessnews.com/3-dr-congo-coeur-de-lafrique-club-sponsorships/), and it is not a list of [state-owned clubs](https://www.footballbusinessnews.com/8-state-owned-football-clubs-2026/). No unofficial shirt-fee estimates are added where the official announcements are silent.

**Sources**

- [Arsenal, "Visit Rwanda update", 19 November 2025](https://www.arsenal.com/news/visit-rwanda-update-ajSou1n9t3E8?ref=footballbusinessnews.com)
- [Deutsche Welle, "Bayern Munich end Rwanda sponsorship after pressure", 8 August 2025](https://www.dw.com/en/bayern-munich-end-rwanda-sponsorship-after-pressure/a-73574184?ref=footballbusinessnews.com)
- [RFI, "PSG signs new Visit Rwanda deal despite backlash over DRC links", 17 April 2025](https://www.rfi.fr/en/sports/20250417-psg-signs-new-visit-rwanda-deal-despite-backlash-over-drc-links?ref=footballbusinessnews.com)
- [Atlético de Madrid, "Visit Rwanda becomes new official Atleti sponsor", 30 April 2025](https://en.atleticodemadrid.com/noticias/visit-rwanda-becomes-new-official-atleti-sponsor?ref=footballbusinessnews.com)
- [Aston Villa, "Aston Villa announce Visit Rwanda partnership", 14 July 2026](https://www.avfc.co.uk/news/2026/july/14/news-aston-villa-announce-visit-rwanda-partnership/?ref=footballbusinessnews.com)