The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is financially supporting the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan who are committing war crimes against non-Arab African indigenous groups in Darfur.
The NBA Cup's title sponsor is Emirates Airlines. The NBA and the RSF both accept money from the UAE.
The UAE needs to be pressured into stopping their support for genocide in Darfur. Tell the NBA that sportswashing UAE support for genocide is not why we are fans.
Phoenix Suns rookie center Khaman Maluach was born in Sudan but grew up in a refugee camp in Uganda. NBA legend Luol Deng was also born in Sudan and moved to Egypt as a boy to escape the Second Sudanese Civil War. Deng's teammate at Duke University is LA Lakers coach JJ Redick. South Sudan's national basketball team competed at the 2024 Paris Olympics and nearly beat the USA in an exhibition game before the tournament.
From the linked article:
When the militia seized El Fasher from the Sudanese Armed Forces last week, it immediately began committing mass executions: massacring hundreds of people at the last functioning hospital, burning people alive, forcing men to dig pits in which they were buried alive, going house to house and shooting those they found, executing people with disabilities unable to flee.
In a little more than a week, evidence suggests, the militia has killed and sexually assaulted civilians in numbers that defy comprehension. Its fighters continue to target African indigenous groups, as they have since the war began. Human Rights Watch, citing a U.N. panel, reported that in 2023, the militia targeted Masalit civilians in the West Darfur city of El Geneina and killed 10,000 to 15,000 people there in all.
This slaughter could potentially be stopped if those with leverage would apply pressure on the United Arab Emirates, the primary backer of the Rapid Support Forces’ war machine. Those include American leaders like President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and behemoth companies like the N.B.A. and Disney, both of which have business partnerships with the Emirates.
Likely no organization holds more potential sway than the National Basketball Association. The league’s partnership with the Emirates includes preseason games in Abu Dhabi and an in-season basketball tournament, the Emirates N.B.A. Cup, which began last Friday. The league should make clear this will be the last Emirates N.B.A. Cup unless the country stops supporting the militants. The N.B.A.’s global prestige gives it immense influence; taking a stand could send a signal far beyond the basketball court, lighting the way for others to follow suit.
https://washingtoncentre.org/how-the-uaes-terror-financing-of-rsf-fuels-sudans-deadly-gold-war/
https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/21/sport/usa-south-sudan-basketball-olympic-warmup-spt-intl/index.html
https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/11/19/nba-risks-sportswashing-uae-violations
Make some more noise: feel free to take the text and post it to your team page, or wherever.
Together we can try to make the NBA do the right thing.
14 comments
I saw your post on the main sub too, unfortunately I don’t think this is gonna go anywhere
The nba has shown willingness to put money above morales time and time again in regards to who they partner with
Not saying you’re wrong for pushing this and I truly hope it goes somewhere but it’s never worked before
I applaud your efforts but the NBA cares about money not human rights, despite their performative efforts to appear otherwise.
I fully agree with you, but the NBA is not going to do the right thing unless it’s profitable.
Businesses don’t really give a shit whether their sponsors support horrendous acts unless they get bad PR for it
Yeah, I’ve been so fucking disgusted as the NBAs continued involvement and funding by the UAE. literally one of the most horrifying genocides is occurring right now with some of the most inhumane shit you will ever hear about is being directly funded by the UAE and the nba is like, “fuck yeah!! Cool!! Let’s take money from those people too!!” Terrible, terrible shit.
Nah mate. Don’t bring logic into this. That’s not how xxi politics work. Don’t you know that if christians are on the receiving end of it it doesn’t count? /s
good on you. ignore the haters.
Remember Adam Silver randomly ballwashing Henry Kissinger after he died? Yea..,
😂 The NBA did a bang up job standing up to China and their ” re-education” camps for their Muslim population.
It’s very simple….the NBA only cares about profits and there isn’t anything profitable about Sudan.
Is it horrible…. absolutely! Will corporations care…fuck no!
The NBA always catering to the forces that has money: China, UAE, Saudi…
lol
>Together we can try to make the NBA do the right thing.
Good luck
This account hasn’t posted anything since 4-6 years ago. The account has almost no activity other than this. Surely this is a real person and not a hacked account! /s
Agreed!
I think what needs to happen first is that everybody who is commenting saying yes agreed but it will never happen, need to sit back and reconsider for a moment. Big companies need to start understanding that the power belongs to the people. The NBA relies on its fans and its players (I’m lumping the players in to the people here, leaving the status of celebrity for another discussion). If the fans and the players make demands, and they themselves take the demands seriously, the NBA will have no choice but to take them seriously. Yes the NBA will do anything for money, but what happens when they start to lose significant fan engagement, what happens when eventually players are convinced to boycott? You read that and think it will never happen. But every single movement for change has had people saying the same thing, and it was only once those naysayers realized they had the power, that the change could occur. You might think this isn’t the right time – that might be valid! But to insist upon that in this way, just holds us back. Change takes time, and the largest of movements start from just one person wanting to make that change. Everything seems impossible until it is done!