Formula One has signed a ten-year agreement with Rwanda to host the African Grand Prix at the planned Bugesera circuit starting in the early 2030s, the first F1 race in Africa since 1993, with the event presented as a tourism, infrastructure, and talent-development opportunity.

Critics, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, argue the deal overlooks Rwanda’s record of arbitrary detention, restrictions on free speech, and alleged support for the M23 armed group in eastern Congo, which has been accused of widespread human-rights abuses.

The agreement fits a broader Rwandan strategy of international sporting sponsorships, such as deals with English Premier League and European clubs, even as some fan groups have protested the partnerships as funding conflict.

Tyrants and demagogues love sports and the governing bodies that preside over them.  Despite strictures, injunctions and warnings about dealing with unsavoury regimes, a sporting body or organisation can always be relied on to ignore the fine print of their charters and make a dash for the revenue till.  While the candidates for such a list are long – the International Olympic Committee and the world footballing body FIFA figure with amoral sprightliness in that regard – Formula One (F1) has shown itself to be most promiscuous.

In its October 13 statement, FI glows with the announcement that motor racing will “return to Africa for the first time since 1993.”  Then, the apartheid government of South Africa, one nearing expiration, still offered their good services to F1 to run the tournament as part of a controversial tradition.  (The South African Grand Prix had been something of a fixture since the 1960s, barring the interrupting hiccup in the latter 1980s.)  In a ten-year agreement with the Rwandan government, the Formula 1 African Grand Prix will become a part of the racing calendar in the early 2030s, beginning its first race at the still to be completed Bugesera circuit. “The new track will be developed to FIA Grade 1 standards as part of a wider sports, tourism, infrastructure, and commercial development project led by the Rwanda Development Board.”

The........

© Eurasia Review