Bayern Munich terminated its commercial relationship with Rwanda amid external pressures from fans and media regarding human rights concerns and the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. While Bayern will no longer promote the 'Vist Rwanda' branding, it will continue a partnership focused on football development through the FC Bayern Youth Academy in Kigali. Experts suggest that the club's actions reflect a complex relationship between commercial expansion into untapped markets and the scrutiny from their fan base regarding ethical responsibilities.
"I believe that the external pressure led to the changes in the deal because in Germany, I think that the clubs are pretty exposed to criticism from the fan base. Fan bases in Germany are quite traditional and not open to commercial deals."
"Though it will no longer display the branding of the government tourist board 'Vist Rwanda' Bayern will still maintain a relationship with the country, which is widely accepted to be funding M23, a rebel group who have captured territory, often in brutal fashion, in eastern DRC."
"I think it's the strategic expansion to emerge in different markets outside of Europe. In recent years we've seen it in Asia, India, Japan, China and also North and South America but Africa is still really a market not realized commercially for the big European clubs."
Collection
[
|
...
]