Christians have called on the football Premier League to raise the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) role in the devastating conflict in Sudan with Manchester City’s owner at a protest at Etihad Stadium.
The action was staged by Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) outside the club’s stadium because Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan is the UAE’s vice president and deputy prime minister.
He is believed to be the Rapid Support Forces’ (RSF) closest ally in the Emirates, with the nation having provided them with military and financial support as they seek to defeat the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), as revealed by CSW.
Asked what has prompted the protest almost three years into what has become one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, a CSW partner told en that it is clear that support for both warring factions from third parties is “fuelling the continuation of the conflict”, making it “vital” to “highlight the connection” between the UAE and RSF, with evidence of the link mounting in recent years.
Asked what CSW hopes to achieve through the protest, the partner said: “It is our hope that the Premier League will make it clear to Sheikh Mansour that his country’s continued involvement in the conflict in Sudan and his own close relationship with the leader of the RSF, General Mohamed Hamdan ‘Hemedti’ Dagalo, is not fitting for a club owner, and insist that he either intervenes or accepts that he may be disqualified from club ownership.
“Additionally, we are urging them to demand that the UAE provides humanitarian assistance to the people of Sudan as a means of reparation. We are also suggesting that the league should consider how it might use its own vast resources to support Sudanese nationals facing the worst displacement crisis in the world.”
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