How Congo-Rwanda war tensions are spilling into football

However, this dispute adds a sporting dimension to a prolonged diplomatic standoff between the neighbours, who have for years accused each other of backing rebel groups seeking to destabilise their respective governments.

APR, the Rwandan football giants, are expected to fly to Kinshasa, the DRC capital, to honour the first leg of their CAF Champions League preliminary-round tie, scheduled for 4-6 September, but the boycott threat has now left the fixture in suspense. Traditionally, teams that boycott matches could be fined as well as being forced to forfeit the points that would have been earned if they won.

CAF has not spoken on the threat of boycott or request by APR for a neutral venue. CAF also routinely abhors political interference in matches, although it is common for them to accept neutral venues for matches, especially if the hosts are at war. Sudan’s matches, for instance, are often played abroad, due to raging conflict there. Sudan’s club, Al Ahli has played in the Rwandan top division for two years, after their home league was shut down because of war.

For Rwanda and DRC, the beef is closer as they share a border, ethnic relations but harbour continual suspicions.

It is not the first time their tensions have cropped up in CAF events. In 2024, the DRC national football team famously debuted their gesture, dubbed “silence the guns”, before their Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) semi-final match against Cote d’Ivoire, covering their mouths with one hand while shaping the other like a gun to their heads.

The gesture was a protest calling on Rwanda to stop supporting the M23 rebels in eastern DRC, where the group has captured large territories from the Congolese government. Rwanda routinely denies role in M23 clashes but the Rwandan military is currently sanctioned by the US, accused of the very charge they deny.

After a friendly game between APR and another Rwandan club, Etincelles FC, in Kigali, APR head coach Abderrahim Taleb said: “We cannot put our players at risk” by travelling to Kinshasa for the CAF Champions League fixture.

However, before APR FC receives final feedback from CAF, any boycott of, or withdrawal from, their CAF Champions League fixture against Les Aigles du Congo would result in immediate disqualification, heavy financial penalties and potential multi-year bans from continental competitions under standard Confederation of African Football (CAF) regulations.

Taleb, however, reiterated, “You know there is Ebola and war in Congo, so we are discussing with CAF to see if we can play on neutral ground.”

However, he maintained that his team continues to train and prepare for the tie as they await CAF’s decision.

If CAF disagrees, it could still impose a 0-2 loss on APR, and knock APR FC out of the tournament.

Gonza Muganwa, a political commentator on Rwanda and the Great Lakes region, says the current policy is that Congolese citizens who intend to travel to Rwanda must first undergo quarantine before entering the country, but he adds that APR’s demand is genuine. It is unclear if the Congolese team can be exempt from the rule when they come to play a return leg.

“I think the demand is reasonable, given the open hostility towards Rwandans by some elements on the streets of Kinshasa. Remember, there was a demonstration when the Rwandan embassy was attacked,” he said, referring to events early in 2025 when embassies of Kigali, France and Kenya were torched and looted. Kenya demanded compensation from Kinshasa.

He further said, “Neutral ground is possible, since the DRC team is currently training in Tanzania and has played friendlies with Tanzanian teams.”

Being an army side, Muganwa said, some of APR’s officials are active soldiers, and the government would not allow them to go there.

Congolese authorities also shut out its airspace, halting carrier operations such as RwandAir. RwandAir has had to use longer routes for West African destinations such as Lagos.