Aston Villa agree Visit Rwanda front-of-shirt deal worth nearly £20m a year | OneFootball

Aston Villa have named Visit Rwanda as their new front-of-shirt sponsor in a multi-year agreement worth nearly £20 million a year, replacing Betano.

Villa had to find a new sponsor after Premier League gambling advertising rules came into force this summer. The club said in a statement that it is the most important sponsorship deal in their history.

The agreement is understood to be about 20 per cent more valuable than their previous Betano contract. Villa regard it as excellent at a time when several top-flight rivals are still searching for new sponsors. It is the first major deal negotiated by Francesco Calvo since he replaced Chris Heck as president of business operations a year ago.

Visit Rwanda’s partnerships with Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain have long faced scrutiny, with critics accusing the Rwandan government of sportswashing to deflect from what human rights groups have called an abysmal human rights record. The neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo last year labelled similar deals blood stained following violence involving Rwandan-backed M23 rebels in the east of the country.

Arsenal ended their sleeve sponsorship by mutual agreement last November after protests by fan group Gunners for Peace. Bayern moved their partnership away from a commercial agreement last year, and more than 75,000 PSG supporters signed a Stop Visit Rwanda petition.

Supporters who bought the new home shirt without a front sponsor can add Visit Rwanda branding free of charge at the Villa Park or Bullring club stores.

Source: ExpressAndStar.com