Rwanda's army team removed from Africa league after US sanctions, NBA says
The US imposed sanctions on Rwanda's army over its role in the conflict in DR Congo.
Rwanda's army team removed from Africa league after US sanctions, NBA says
Rwanda's army team APR came third in the Basketball Africa League last year
The National Basketball Association (NBA) says it took Rwanda's army team out of its African league because of US sanctions imposed on the country in March.
The NBA had earlier said the Rwandan army-funded Armée Patriotique Rwandaise (APR) club would not take part in the 2026 Basketball Africa League (BAL).
But this is the first time the NBA has explained why APR was removed.
The association was replying to complaints from two US senators, who wrote asking it to rethink its partnership with the Rwandan team. In March, the US sanctioned the Rwandan army, accusing it of fuelling the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The senators said the NBA risked "becoming complicit in sportswashing by accepting money from a Rwandan government that systematically abuses human rights".
Last week, the US also sanctioned Rwanda's defence ministry over its support for the M23 rebel group, which has taken control of large parts of eastern DR Congo. Rwanda denies backing the rebels despite overwhelming evidence.
Rwanda is an official BAL partner and pays the league to stage its finals at the 10,000-seat BK Arena in the capital, Kigali.
In the letter to the NBA dated 23 October, Democratic Senator Jeffrey Merkley and Republican counterpart Marsha Blackburn gave the association until 2 November to provide a written reply about its ongoing partnership with Rwanda.
"What is the NBA red line for accepting money from foreign governments that commit human rights abuses?" the senators asked.
Among other questions, they also asked how the association could "reconcile its continued partnership with Rwanda with its purported commitment to justice".
In its reply, NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum said the Rwandan team "had been withdrawn" from the BAL after the sanctions imposed earlier in the year, American sports website ESPN reports.
The BAL is a pan-African basketball league set up and co-organised by the NBA and basketball's world governing body Fiba.
The NBA said the APR basketball club would stay barred while the US sanctions remain in force.
APR is one of Rwanda's leading basketball teams and represented the country in the African league in 2024 and 2025, when it finished third. It was replaced by the RSSB Tigers this year.
Rwanda has hosted all but one of the league's final and playoff matches since the first match in 2021.
The NBA reportedly gets millions of dollars each year from the country for marketing and partnership rights.
DR Congo has repeatedly criticised Rwanda's high-profile international sports deals, including with the NBA, European football clubs and Formula 1, and has called on them to end their campaigns.
It says these deals help Rwanda polish its global image while the conflict in eastern DR Congo continues.