Christian Group Plans Campaign Outside Etihad Stadium in England Over UAE’s Alleged Role in Sudan War

Khartoum, 15 December, 2025 / 11:30 PM

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), a UK-based human rights organization, has announced plans for a public campaign on 14 January 2026 outside England’s Etihad Stadium, calling on the English Premier League (EPL) to address the alleged role of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the ongoing war in Sudan.

According to a media advisory shared with ACI Africa on Monday, December 15, the campaign will begin with a protest and is directed at the owner of Manchester City Football Club, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who also serves as Vice President and deputy Prime Minister of the UAE.

“There is credible evidence that the UAE, of which Sheikh Mansour is vice president and deputy prime minister, continues to provide extensive military and financial support to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF, formerly the Janjaweed militia),” CSW officials say in the media advisory.

CSW, which specializes in advocacy for religious freedom and works on behalf of individuals persecuted for their Christian beliefs and other religious convictions, further states that Sheikh Mansour is described as the RSF leader’s closest ally in the Emirates.

The organization situates its campaign within the broader humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Sudan since fighting broke out on 15 April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF. CSW officials say the conflict has plunged the country into one of the world’s gravest humanitarian crises.

According to the CSW media advisory, “over 30 million people, including nearly 15 million children, are in urgent need of assistance, at least 150,000 have been killed, and over 13 million have been displaced.”

“The RSF is currently suspected of committing renewed genocide in Darfur, after its fighters documented mass killings and other atrocities while committing them following the fall of El Fasher city,” the officials say.

In the December 15 advisory, CSW explains that the protests planned for 14 January 2026 “will coincide with the launch of a petition calling on the Premier League to raise the UAE’s involvement in the conflict with Sheikh Mansour, holding him to account for the role his country is playing in prolonging and profiting from the conflict, and insisting that the UAE ends its support for the RSF.”

“CSW is a Christian human rights organization with UN consultative status specializing in advocacy for the right to freedom of religion or belief for all,” the officials say. 

They add, “For over four decades we have sought to challenge and change the laws, behaviours and policies that lead to, or facilitate, violations of this fundamental human right in countries across the world, including in Sudan.”