The Emirates NBA Cup held its first game on November 12 in the US city of Detroit after the United Arab Emirates (UAE) hosted two preseason games in October 2024 in Abu Dhabi. These games are part of the Emirati government’s efforts to distract from the many human rights violations it is committing at home and abroad, including its alleged supply of weapons to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan.
Human Rights Watch has documented RSF committing crimes against humanity and called for further investigations into whether acts of genocide were committed in El Geneina, Darfur.
The National Basketball Association (NBA) signed a multiyear partnership with the UAE’s Department of Culture and Tourism for Abu Dhabi to host NBA games in the UAE. Now the Association is risking “sportswashing” the UAE’s egregious human rights record, especially as it fails to speak out about the UAE’s ongoing abuses.
The NBA should be aware that the UAE hosts high profile sporting, entertainment, and cultural events to promote a public image of openness and tolerance at odds with the government’s rampant systemic human rights violations.
The UAE maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward online and offline dissent domestically while fueling rights abuses abroad in Yemen and Sudan. The UAE’s support to the RSF, a force responsible for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other atrocities, including ethnic cleansing in the Darfur region, comes amid reports of an airbridge between the UAE and Chad to a military-style airfield that the UAE alleges is purely for humanitarian purposes.
In July, an Emirati court meted out sentences ranging from 15 years to life in prison to at least 44 human rights defenders and dissidents following an unfair trial marred by due process violations.
The UAE also relies heavily on migrant workers who experience serious labor abuses like wage theft, exorbitant recruitment fees, difficulty changing jobs, and passport confiscation. The UAE’s abusive kafala (sponsorship) system underpins these abuses as it ties migrant workers’ visas to their employers.
The NBA has a responsibility under the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights to respect human rights throughout all its operations. This includes adopting specific policies and conducting due diligence to identify risks of contributing to human rights harms, including burnishing the image of human rights-abusing states.
