A Christian charity has staged protests outside the Etihad Stadium over owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s involvement in the conflict in Sudan. The Premier League has the power and the responsibility to intervene - and Christians have the power to get their attention, says CSW’s Ellis Heasley
At least 150,000 killed. Over 13 million displaced. An estimated 30 million – including nearly 15 million children – in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. As Christians, we should all be grieved and moved by the unfolding catastrophe in Sudan, which is one of the most dangerous places in the world to follow Jesus.
What’s happening in Sudan?
For the better part of three years, the country’s civilians have borne the brunt of the conflict between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), whose leaders had previously worked together to end Sudan’s fragile democratic transition by seizing power in a military coup in October 2021.
Under the leadership of Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, ‘Hemedti’, and General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan respectively, RSF and SAF fighters have carried out a litany of violations that UN experts and the International Criminal Court have concluded likely amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Not only is the UAE extending its support to the RSF under Sheikh Mansour’s authority, it is doing so with his active involvement
Both sides have bombed hospitals, schools and places of worship. Both have deliberately targeted civilians perceived as not belonging to the ‘right’ ethnic or religious group. And the RSF in particular has subjected women and girls to a systematic campaign of sexual and gender-based violence.
In Darfur, which has been almost entirely under RSF control since October 2025, the RSF has specifically targeted people of African ethnicity, including Christian communities. Elsewhere, in northern SAF-controlled areas, discrimination, harassment and targeting of predominantly African communities from Darfur and the Nuba Mountains - where the majority of Sudan’s Christian population is from - is rife.
It is easy to feel powerless in the face of such injustice but, as Christians, we must remember that we never are. At CSW, we believe in the power of prayer to bring about change. We believe that your voice holds unimaginable power and can save lives. We also believe that prayer and action go together, and we often find that we are more closely connected to situations like these than we might first realise.
What’s it got to do with football?
In Sudan’s case, the past three years have given rise to a growing body of evidence that exposes the United Arab Emirates (UAE)’s involvement in the conflict, namely through its provision of military and financial support to the RSF, and its blocking of efforts to negotiate a ceasefire, alongside other countries such as Egypt.
Meanwhile, anyone who has been following English football over the past two decades will know that one of the Premier League’s most successful clubs – Manchester City – is owned by the UAE’s vice-president and deputy prime minister, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
The Premier League has both the power and the responsibility to hold Sheikh Mansour to account
Crucially, upon closer inspection, it emerges that not only is the UAE extending its support to the RSF under Sheikh Mansour’s authority (and that of his brother, President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed) it is doing so with his active involvement.
Sheikh Mansour has a direct line to Hemedti, with US intelligence officials having intercepted multiple calls between the two men. The sheikh has also hosted the RSF leader in the Emirates on multiple occasions, including in February 2021, when they toured an arms fair together, and again in February 2023, just six weeks before the conflict broke out.
Held to account
The Premier League has both the power and the responsibility to hold Sheikh Mansour to account for this. In March 2023, its clubs unanimously approved changes to the league’s Owners and Directors’ Test adding, among other things, a “disqualifying event” for individuals involved in human rights abuses, i.e. affirming that such involvement is not fitting of a club owner.
Even without that, the Premier League is subject to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which state that businesses should “seek to prevent or mitigate adverse human rights impacts that are directly linked to their operations, products or services by their business relationships, even if they have not contributed to those impacts.”
It is for these reasons that CSW and a group of Sudanese refugees gathered outside the Etihad Stadium in Manchester last week to launch a campaign calling on the Premier League to act.
We are inviting people to sign a petition asking the Premier League to raise these issues with Sheikh Mansour, and to persuade him to end the UAE’s involvement in the war as a crucial first step towards a ceasefire, a return to democratic transition, and ultimately, justice for victims of violations committed both before and throughout the conflict.
This isn’t about clubs, players or fans. We are not implying that only one side of the conflict is the problem. Nor are we suggesting that Sheikh Mansour is the only Premier League club owner whose other enterprises should disqualify him. This is an attempt to pull a lever that we believe is within reach - and could genuinely make a difference to Christians and many others in Sudan. Please join us.
Sign CSW’s Eyes on Sudan petition
Premier Christianity has reached out to Manchester City FC for a response to the claims made in this article.
