As Sudan burns, the NBA’s embrace of the UAE shows how sport enables atrocity
The NBA’s rapid global expansion has collided with a geopolitical crisis, raising uncomfortable questions about the cost of the league’s financial ambitions. While the Emirates NBA Cup has successfully integrated the United Arab Emirates into the fabric of the American basketball calendar, a growing chorus of human rights advocates is pointing to a darker reality behind the glitz of the sponsorship: the civil war in Sudan.
At the heart of the controversy is the disconnect between the NBA’s progressive domestic brand and its international business partners. The league, which famously championed social justice movements in the United States, is now deepening its ties with the UAE—a nation accused by multiple international bodies of supplying weapons to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan. The RSF has been implicated in mass atrocities, including ethnic cleansing and widespread sexual violence, creating one of the world’s most severe humanitarian disasters.
Critics argue that the NBA is participating in "sportswashing"—allowing its cultural cachet to sanitize the reputation of a regime linked to war crimes. The partnership is extensive and lucrative, featuring annual preseason games in Abu Dhabi, a planned NBA Global Academy at NYU’s Abu Dhabi campus, and the prominent Emirates airline branding on referee jerseys and the In-Season Tournament itself.
Refugees International has been particularly vocal, asserting that the tournament is being used to distract from the UAE’s role in fueling famine and genocide. For a league that prides itself on "Basketball Without Borders," the optics of partnering with a state actor accused of destabilizing borders and destroying lives are jarring.
The situation presents a significant challenge for Commissioner Adam Silver. As the league seeks to maximize revenue and grow the game in the Middle East, it risks alienating a fanbase that expects the NBA to stand for human rights. The Emirates NBA Cup may be a commercial triumph, but as reports from Sudan continue to horrify the global community, the league’s silence on its partner’s alleged activities is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain. The question remains whether the NBA’s moral compass is for sale, or if there is a line that even global capital cannot cross.
At the heart of the controversy is the disconnect between the NBA’s progressive domestic brand and its international business partners. The league, which famously championed social justice movements in the United States, is now deepening its ties with the UAE—a nation accused by multiple international bodies of supplying weapons to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan. The RSF has been implicated in mass atrocities, including ethnic cleansing and widespread sexual violence, creating one of the world’s most severe humanitarian disasters.
Critics argue that the NBA is participating in "sportswashing"—allowing its cultural cachet to sanitize the reputation of a regime linked to war crimes. The partnership is extensive and lucrative, featuring annual preseason games in Abu Dhabi, a planned NBA Global Academy at NYU’s Abu Dhabi campus, and the prominent Emirates airline branding on referee jerseys and the In-Season Tournament itself.
Refugees International has been particularly vocal, asserting that the tournament is being used to distract from the UAE’s role in fueling famine and genocide. For a league that prides itself on "Basketball Without Borders," the optics of partnering with a state actor accused of destabilizing borders and destroying lives are jarring.
The situation presents a significant challenge for Commissioner Adam Silver. As the league seeks to maximize revenue and grow the game in the Middle East, it risks alienating a fanbase that expects the NBA to stand for human rights. The Emirates NBA Cup may be a commercial triumph, but as reports from Sudan continue to horrify the global community, the league’s silence on its partner’s alleged activities is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain. The question remains whether the NBA’s moral compass is for sale, or if there is a line that even global capital cannot cross.
