The NBA’s expansion into Africa has suffered a blow after Rwanda’s army-owned basketball team was forced out of the Basketball Africa League (BAL) due to U.S. sanctions.
The Armée Patriotique Rwandaise Basketball Club, known as the Lions, withdrew just weeks before the league’s sixth season begins on March 27.
Washington sanctioned Rwanda’s military earlier this month for backing rebel groups accused of atrocities in Congo, making it illegal for the NBA to partner with army-linked entities.
The team had recently signed former NBA champion Quinn Cook, but the deal collapsed when travel arrangements fell through.
Rwanda quickly replaced the Lions with another local team, the RSSB Tigers, though critics say the move does little to hide the regime’s deep ties to the sport.
President Paul Kagame has used basketball as a national branding tool, hosting BAL playoffs in Kigali’s new arena and partnering closely with former Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri. But analysts argue the NBA ignored warnings about Rwanda’s human rights record.
“This is a major embarrassment,” said Jeffrey Smith of Vanguard Africa. “The world now sees the regime’s military fingerprints on everything, including sports.”
