Rwanda's army team removed from Africa league after US sanctions, NBA says

The National Basketball Association (NBA) says it removed Rwanda's army team from its African league because of US sanctions imposed on the country in March.

The NBA had previously said the Rwandan army-funded Armée Patriotique Rwandaise (APR) club would not participate in the 2026 Basketball Africa League (BAL).

However this is the first time the NBA has revealed the reasons behind the APR's removal.

The association was responding to complaints by two US senators, who sent a letter asking them to reconsider their partnership with the Rwandan team. The US placed sanctions on the Rwandan army, accusing it of fuelling the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo in March.

The senators said the NBA risked "becoming complicit in sportswashing by accepting money from a Rwandan government that systematically abuses human rights".

Last week, the US also imposed sanctions on Rwanda's defence ministry over its support for the M23 rebel group which has seized control of large parts of eastern DR Congo. Rwanda denies backing the rebels despite overwhelming evidence.

Rwanda is an official BAL partner and pays the league to host its finals at the 10,000-seat BK Arena in the capital, Kigali.

In the letter to the NBA dated 23 October, Democratic Senator Jeffrey Merkley and Republican counterpart Marsha Blackburn gave the association until 2 November to give a written response regarding its continued partnership with Rwanda.

Copyright for this text belongs to BBC.