Rare protest held at Manchester City over UAE owner’s link to Sudan war Submitted by Rayhan Uddin on Thu, 01/15/2026 - 15:22 Sudanese activists and refugees brave cold in northern England to demonstrate against Mansour bin Zayed's alleged role aiding RSF paramilitary Demonstrators gather outside the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England, on 14 January 2026 to protest human rights abuses in Sudan (Supplied) Off When Farid Kelana fled Sudan for the UK two years ago, he did not expect the city he settled in to be linked to the war he thought he had escaped. Kelana moved to Manchester, in northern England, a few months after conflict broke out in Sudan in April 2023. Now, on a cold Wednesday morning, he took part in a demonstration outside the stadium of one of the city’s two biggest football clubs. “I feel totally angry about the idea that football is linked to war crimes, linked to killing people,” he told Middle East Eye. Kelana joined a handful of protesters, many of them Sudanese, on a windy day outside the Etihad Stadium to highlight the links between Manchester City Football Club and the war in Sudan. Since 2008, Manchester City has been owned by Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the United Arab Emirates ' vice president, deputy prime minister, and brother to the country’s ruler Mohammed bin Zayed. 'I feel totally angry about the idea that football is linked to war crimes, linked to killing people' - Farid Kelana, Sudanese in UK Extensive reporting has shown that the UAE is one of the main supporters of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary in Sudan, supplying the group with weapons through a complex network stretching across Libya , Chad, Uganda and Somalia . The UAE has long denied that it assists the RSF. Mansour bin Zayed is accused of direct involvement, too. According to phone calls intercepted by the US , Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo - the RSF chief commonly known as Hemedti - has a direct line to Mansour. The calls led American officials to conclude that the Manchester City owner has played a central role in arming the paramilitary group. “Man City has a proud heritage, but the money that is funding these victories is not being used well in Sudan,” Kiri Kankhwende, from rights group Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), told MEE. “It is funding the killing of children, of women, of innocent civilians.” “This is too high a price to pay for victory,” she adds. On the day of the protest, CSW sent a letter to the Premier League urging it to prevent human rights abuses in Sudan and hold Mansour accountable “as a matter of urgency”. Footballs signed by refugees The protest outside the stadium was small, with perhaps 20 attendees. But Mohaned Elnour, a Sudanese consultant who moved to the UK seven years ago, is proud of those who had braved the cold to take part. “You can see my hands are freezing,” he told MEE. “But I’m doing something to support my people in Sudan.” Since the start of the war, RSF fighters have been accused of widespread massacres and abuses, including a genocide in Darfur. The Sudanese Armed Forces has also been accused of war crimes. 'The evidence is there to say that Sheikh Mansour should not be in ownership of a football club' - Scot Bower, head of Christian Solidarity Worldwide “We are here in front of Manchester City, calling for Sheikh Mansour to stop his support for the RSF and to stop one of his closest friends, Hemedti,” “We are here in front of Manchester City, calling for Sheikh Mansour to stop his support for the RSF and to stop one of his closest friends, Hemedti,” said Elnour. Elnou was recently in Uganda, where he met Sudanese refugees displaced by the current war and living in camps in poor conditions. The refugees wrote messages on footballs calling for an end to the war, which were put on display outside the Etihad during the protest. At one point, two Manchester City officials approached to ask what the protest was about and whether any “inflammatory” material would be displayed, before leaving shortly afterwards. Several drivers in passing cars spotted the Sudanese flags and honked their horns in support. 'Home is always home' Abu-Zayd DeGale, a Sudanese storyteller, performed spoken word, wearing a full Sudanese football kit. He also displayed impressive keepy-uppies skills. “It’s good to live in the UK, but home is always home,” DeGale told MEE. “We feel the mental effects of the conflict. We cannot be disconnected from our roots and our people.” Footballs signed with anti-war messages by Sudanese refugees are displayed outside the Etihad Stadium in Manchester (Supplied) Standing nearby was Mohannad Taha, an activist at Manchester4Sudan , a grassroots advocacy organisation working with Sudanese diaspora in the city. Taha said there had been little acknowledgement of Manchester City’s links to the war in Sudan. “We pride ourselves on being the second city of the UK, being this really important cultural capital,” he said. “The world’s biggest humanitarian crisis is going on and we have such a close connection.” He added that even the manager of the club, Pep Guardiola, condemned wars in Sudan and Palestine a few months ago, and still, “no connections are made”. 'Not a fit owner' Three years ago, all 20 clubs in the English Premier League unanimously approved changes to the league’s Owners and Directors Test, adding new grounds for disqualification, including human rights abuses. “The evidence is there to say that Sheikh Mansour should not be in ownership of a football club,” says Scot Bower, head of Christian Solidarity Worldwide. “And that's not just common sense. Those are the rules of the Premier League. He is not a fit and proper owner.” Why Sudan's war risks becoming a permanent political system in 2026 Read More » And there is precedent in the removal of owners due to wars abroad. In March 2022, days after Russia invaded Ukraine, Chelsea Football Club was seized from then-owner Roman Abramovich for his close ties to President Vladmir Putin. “When the war started in Ukraine, you removed Abramovich. You have to apply the same rule,” said Kelana. “Why are you ignoring the Sudanese people?” Taha highlighted what he sees as double standards stemming from the UK’s close ties with the UAE. “The economic ties have rendered the UK leadership cowardly. They don't want to take any principled action because they're scared of losing their economic fortune coming from the UAE,” he said. Yet Taha believes that if change is possible, football fans can bring it about. “The football community taking action on Sudan, taking a stand, can have a direct effect on the war stopping,” he said. "You're talking about so many mediums, so much resource, so much cultural capital, so much emotion.” Sudan war Manchester, England News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0