Letter to Premier League Chief Executive Richard Masters

Dear Mr Masters,

I’m writing to you and the Premier League once again to raise the situation in Sudan and to highlight the connections the League has to the conflict in the country. It is regrettable that, once again, after making the effort to travel to your offices to hand in a petition now signed by over 2,700 people calling on the League to raise this matter urgently with the owner of Manchester City Football Club ahead of its Annual General Meeting, you have refused to receive it or engage in any meaningful way with the issue.

Your staff have remained professional, as always, and we understand that they were instructed in no uncertain terms not to receive the petition. It is puzzling to me and my colleagues at CSW; however, for our Sudanese friends, many of whom have been directly impacted by this war, it is devastating.

One of the representatives of the Sudanese community said in a statement outside your offices, ‘We 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… 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.’

This is a powerful call for the Premier League to use its position to raise the issue of the UAE’s involvement in the conflict in Sudan. This is especially urgent as more and more reports emerge of the UAE’s complicity in supporting the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), including through the facilitation of Colombian mercenaries who were present in El Fasher in October, according to a report launched last week by Human Rights Watch.

Furthermore, the organisation that recruited the Colombian mercenaries was overseen by someone who reports to Sheikh Mansour. It is becoming increasingly difficult to accept blanket denials of the sheikh having any knowledge of pathways of support for the RSF via the UAE as the evidence mounts, the RSF commits atrocity crimes with impunity, and the war continues into its fourth year.

We continue to call on the Premier League to engage with this issue, which carries a reputational risk for its brand, but, more importantly, to use your relationships to raise these concerns with Sheikh Mansour.

Once again, we are more than willing to provide you and your team with an in-person briefing on the issues and concerns raised in this letter, should that be helpful.

Scot Bower

CEO, CSW

Click here to download a copy of this letter as a PDF.