{"id":30101,"date":"2026-05-22T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/csw-yeo.1wp.site\/press\/premier-league-refuses-to-accept-petition-on-sudan-conflict-for-second-time-6809\/"},"modified":"2026-09-23T19:16:29","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T18:16:29","slug":"premier-league-refuses-to-accept-petition-on-sudan-conflict-for-second-time-6809","status":"publish","type":"press","link":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/press\/premier-league-refuses-to-accept-petition-on-sudan-conflict-for-second-time-6809\/","title":{"rendered":"Premier League refuses to accept petition on Sudan conflict for second time"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Premier League refused for a second time to accept a petition<\/a> signed by over 2,600 people calling on the league to raise credible concerns with and hold to account Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan over the United Arab Emirates (UAE)\u2019s role in the Sudan conflict.<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

CSW attempted to deliver the petition for the second time to the Premier League headquarters in London on 21 May. The league had previously refused to accept the petition<\/a> on 28 April, at which time it had been signed by 2,500 people. At the second hand-in attempt security informed CSW staff that they had been instructed not to receive anything from them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The petition<\/a>, launched in January outside Manchester City\u2019s Etihad Stadium, is addressed to the chief executive, board and member clubs of the Premier League and asks them to raise the issue of the UAE\u2019s support for the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) with Sheikh Mansour, holding him to account for his country\u2019s role in prolonging and profiting from a conflict which has killed over 150,000 people<\/a>, displaced 13 million<\/a>, and rendered 30 million<\/a> in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While both the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) with whom it is in conflict are supported by various international actors, there is credible evidence that the UAE continues to provide military and financial support to the RSF, including through the provision of sophisticated weaponry to RSF fighters and the likely deployment<\/a> y training<\/a> of personnel to fight alongside them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheikh Mansour \u2013 who is also vice-president and deputy prime minister of the UAE \u2013 has been described<\/a> as the RSF leader\u2019s closest ally in the Emirates, and US intelligence officers claim<\/a> to have intercepted regular phone calls between the two men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In February 2026 the United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan encontrado<\/a> that the RSF\u2019s actions following its October 2025 capture of El Fasher city in Darfur bore the \u2018hallmarks of genocide\u2019. In March 2026 the US Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) recommended<\/a> that the US State Department designate the RSF as an Entity of Particular Concern (EPC), highlighting the \u2018harmful effects to religious freedom and Sudan\u2019s diverse religious and ethnic communities\u2019 caused by the militia\u2019s campaign of mass atrocities and widespread human rights violations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking at the attempted hand-in, Abdallah Idriss Abugarda, Leader of the Darfur Diaspora Association, said: \u2018We are here not because we oppose football, not because we oppose the fans of Manchester City; we are here because football is powerful, and with great power comes moral responsibility, moral obligation\u2026 The Premier League is not just a business, it is one of the most influential sporting institutions in the world. It speaks proudly about equality, human dignity, anti-racism and social responsibility. Those values that we all share must mean something, not only on the pitch but also beyond it.\u2019<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also on 21 May, CSW joined Church in Chains (Ireland), Human Rights Concern-Eritrea and Release Eritrea for an annual peaceful protest vigil<\/a> outside the Eritrean Embassy in London. Representatives from the organisations attempted to deliver a letter addressed to the Eritrean Head of Mission to the UK and Ireland raising concerns about severe human rights violations in the country. The embassy refused to open the door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reflecting on both protests, CSW\u2019s CEO Scot Bower said: \u2018Neither the Premier League nor the Eritrean Embassy would open their doors to us. One is not a surprise. Nobody expects the Eritrean Embassy to open their door or engage in dialogue, but we are surprised at the Premier League once again refusing to accept a petition. It is disappointing for me, but devastating for those who have experienced the horrors of war, severe human rights violations, and the death of family members and friends. One thing we have learned from all our years of protesting is that we don\u2019t give up. Just because the Eritrean Embassy hasn\u2019t opened its doors for the last 20 years doesn\u2019t mean we\u2019re not coming back next year, and just because the Premier League haven\u2019t opened their doors the last two times we\u2019ve been there doesn\u2019t mean we won\u2019t be coming back. We\u2019ll be back again when the next season starts. We\u2019ll have more names on the petition; we\u2019ll have more people outside, we\u2019ll chant even louder, and we\u2019ll keep doing it until the doors are opened.\u2019<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notes to Editors:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n\n
  1. The petition remains live and can be signed here<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n
  2. Additional photos from the event are available on request.<\/li>\n\n<\/ol>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The Premier League again refused to accept a petition calling on the league to raise concerns with and hold to account Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour over the UAEs role in the Sudan conflict.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":44237,"template":"","categories":[],"regions":[152,157],"class_list":["post-30101","press","type-press","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","regions-sub-saharan-africa","regions-sudan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press\/30101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/press"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press\/30101\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40687,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press\/30101\/revisions\/40687"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30101"},{"taxonomy":"regions","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.csw.org.uk\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/regions?post=30101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}