Sudan: The UAE's Malign Role in Sudan War Can't Be 'Sportswashed' Away

1 January 2025
Daily Maverick (Johannesburg)
By John Prendergast

The US National Basketball Association recently concluded a tournament sponsored by the UAE-owned Emirates Airlines, the same UAE that has been accused by a United Nations Panel of Experts of providing arms to Sudan's brutal militia, the Rapid Support Forces.

Listen to this article 6 min Listen to this article 6 min The National Basketball Association (NBA) might just be the world champion in "sportswashing" the reputations of the most egregious regimes on the planet.

The NBA's problematic relationships with China and Rwanda are well documented. But its growing alliance with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) could be the most troubling.

The NBA recently concluded an extravagant in-season tournament, the Emirates NBA Cup, which consisted of 67 games played over the course of five weeks. The tournament is named for its sponsor, the UAE-owned Emirates Airlines, which signed an enormous deal with the NBA earlier this year. When the Milwaukee Bucks won the tournament in Las Vegas on 17 December, each player on the team was awarded $500,000.

The same UAE that sponsored the lavish tournament has been accused by a United Nations Panel of Experts (among many others) with providing arms to a brutal militia, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has been credibly accused of committing genocide in Darfur. (The Biden administration said on 19 December that the UAE, which has repeatedly denied any role in fuelling...

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