- How many matches do Arsenal have left this year, and when’s the FA Cup?
- Of course it is international week so of course Arsenal are hit with injuries
By Tony Attwood
The news that the visit Rwanda sponsorship campaign is about to come to an end has been widely splashed by the media, and indeed welcomked by many who care about politics and human rights, but I haven’t seen any mention of how much impact the campaign actually had on tourist numbers.
Certainly, the number of visitors to the state has risen, but how much of that has been due to the sponsorship of Arsenal is difficult to say. Those involved in the scheme must have been aware of the feeling among some associated with the club that the link between Arsenal’s values and those of Rwanda, but the club has keep the campaign rolling.
Wikipedia’s view of Rwanda is that the state is a one-party republic with a leader last elected a quarter of a century ago. Its article contains references to “banning opposition parties, arresting or assassinating critics, and electoral fraud.” Not necessarily the sort of view that I think many Arsenal supporters would like to feel they are associated with. Certainly I have never welcomed it. I doubt that Keir Starmer in his box has either.
But the arrangement is said to have given Arsenal around £10m a year over what will be the eight years by the time the link finishes.
Although of course, clubs always claim that accepting advertising and sponsorship does not imply that the club itself is associated with the sponsor, the fact is Arsenal have been accused of “delivering an outrageous snub to the Congolese government with whom Rwanda has effectively been at war, by not meeting their foreign minister, when invited to. It is also not at all clear how much extra tourism Rwanda gained from the deal, given the negative publicity the campaign received in the UK.
Of course, one of the problems with all such deals is that, because of their longevity, people stop noticing the advertising or the link. And so in this case, the phraseology became just part of the background, long ago.
However, to be fair Arsenal have put a very positive spin on the situation, noting that “Together, Arsenal and the Rwanda Development Board have exceeded the original goals of the partnership – promoting conservation and sustainable tourism, inspiring millions of supporters to discover the country, and creating a lasting foundation for tourism growth. The partnership has also supported Rwanda’s ambition to become an international sporting hub in Africa and host more global sporting events whilst delivering grassroots football initiatives that have helped hundreds of young players and coaches develop their skills and inspire greater participation in sport across the country.”
Countering this, we had the “Gunners for Peace” and “Drop Visit Rwanda” campaigns and the distribution of armbands which could be used to cover the logo.
In other news, however, the feelings about Martin Odegaard’s return remain positive. Of course, newspaper claims about player well-being need to be taken with a lot of caution, but the Mirror has noted that “his injury is ‘starting to look better’ amid hope that he’ll be available for this Sunday’s North London derby.” Certainly for once, and at least in just one regard, we can be grateful for an international break wherein our players are not being played, injured and returned with the note saying “make sure he is ok for the next time we need him.”
Odegaard himself seems to have been able to keep out of the way, although he has been spotted watching Norway get through to the World Cup finals. But then, since there are going to be 48 countries in the World Cup finals, that seems to be somewhat easier to attain than before.
But of course, every time we get a player back it seems that we lose a couple more, with the Arsenal injury list now looking more shocking than ever.
Premier League injuries still show Arsenal with seven players out,. a figure only beaten by Chelsea and Newcastle, each on eight, and Tottenham now on an utterly insane 13. If you know what Tottenham are doing to get this level of injury, it would be interesting to know.
However, most clubs have not been putting out statements about injuries during the stoppage for international games, so it is quite possible that come the weekend, those numbers could change considerably. But it would be interesting to know how Everton, Leeds and Manchester City have managed to keep their number of injured players down to two each. What we can say though, is that Gabriel and Calafiri look like they will be out of the Tottenham game.
