The NBA’s partnership with the UAE has been called sportswashing by human rights organizations, a bipartisan congressional commission, and a coalition of Sudan-focused advocacy groups, who argue that the league’s Abu Dhabi tourism deal and its Emirates airline sponsorship help polish the image of a government they accuse of fueling atrocities in Sudan. The NBA rejects that framing, says it follows U.S. State Department guidance, and as of mid-2026 has made no changes to either deal despite sustained public pressure.
What the NBA’s UAE Deals Actually Are
Two commercial arrangements sit at the center of the debate, plus a quieter set of ownership-side ties.
The Abu Dhabi Tourism Partnership
The league first partnered with Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism (DCT) in November 2021 and has staged preseason games at Etihad Arena on Yas Island every year since 2022. On January 22, 2026, the two sides announced a nine-year extension. Financial terms were not disclosed, but ESPN reported it is reasonable to expect the deal is worth well over $300 million, based in part on what the DCT previously paid the EuroLeague to host its Final Four.1ESPN. NBA to Bring More Games to Abu Dhabi With Extended Partnership
The extension expands the DCT’s designation as the NBA’s official tourism destination partner to cover Africa, Asia, Canada, and Latin America, on top of its existing territories in the Middle East, China, and Europe.2SportsPro. NBA Abu Dhabi Tourism Partnership Preseason Games Academy3NBA. NBA and Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi Announce Long-Term Renewal4ESPN. Inside the Billion-Dollar Middle East Race to Control the Future of NBA International Basketball
The Emirates Airline Sponsorship
On February 8, 2024, the NBA announced a separate multiyear global marketing partnership with Emirates, the Dubai-based airline. Emirates became the Official Global Airline Partner of the NBA and the inaugural title partner of the league’s in-season tournament, rebranded as the Emirates NBA Cup.5NBA. Emirates Named Global Airline Partner of the NBA and Title Partner of the Emirates NBA Cup Emirates also became the NBA’s first-ever referee jersey patch partner, with its logo appearing on referee uniforms from the 2024 All-Star Game onward and later extending to the WNBA and NBA G League.6CBS Sports. NBA In-Season Tournament Renamed NBA Cup With Emirates as Sponsor
Emirates executive Boutros Boutros told CNBC the company estimates the partnership will generate $500 million a year in advertising revenue, though that figure represents the airline’s projection of its advertising value rather than what it pays the NBA.7CNBC. Emirates Airline Announces Sponsorship Deal With NBA
Sovereign Wealth Money in Team Ownership
The commercial ties don’t stop at sponsorships. In April 2025, Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Capital entered a multibillion-dollar alliance with Mark Walter’s holding company TWG Global, pledging $10 billion in investment. Two months later, Walter agreed to acquire the majority stake in the Los Angeles Lakers from the Buss family at a record $10 billion valuation.8Sportico. Lakers Sale UAE Investment Mark Walter’s TWG Global NBA rules cap sovereign wealth funds at a maximum ownership stake in any individual team, but sports law experts have suggested the TWG-Mubadala structure may function as a workaround that gives the Abu Dhabi fund indirect exposure without violating the letter of league rules.9InvestmentNews. NBA Sovereign Wealth Workaround: Abu Dhabi Backs Record Lakers Buy
Commissioner Adam Silver has indicated the league is actively courting sovereign wealth funds as potential owners for a planned NBA-branded European league, telling reporters the NBA is “open to different kinds of investors, as principal investors, that aren’t currently allowed in the U.S.”10The Athletic. NBA Europe League Adam Silver Sovereign Wealth Investment
Why Critics Call It Sportswashing
Sportswashing, as the advocacy groups use the term, means using high-profile sports to improve a government’s image and deflect attention from its record on civil liberties, labor rights, and foreign policy. Two lines of criticism drive the case against the NBA’s UAE deals.
The UAE’s Human Rights Record
The U.S. State Department’s own 2024 human rights report on the UAE documented restrictions on freedom of expression and press freedom, credible reports of arbitrary arrest and enforced disappearance tied to political dissent, and a legal framework that prohibits independent trade unions, collective bargaining, and strikes for migrant workers.11U.S. Department of State. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: United Arab Emirates Amnesty International’s 2025 report noted that by year’s end, 67 of 84 individuals prosecuted in a mass trial of human rights defenders and political dissidents were serving life sentences.12Amnesty International. Sudan: Advanced Chinese Weaponry Provided by UAE Identified in Breach of Arms Embargo Human Rights Watch has pointed to the case of Ahmed Mansoor, a human rights defender held in isolation since March 2017.13Human Rights Watch. NBA Risks Sportswashing Through Its UAE Ties
The Sudan Allegations
The sharpest criticism centers on the UAE’s alleged military support for the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the paramilitary group accused of atrocities in Sudan’s civil war, which began in April 2023.
Amnesty International published findings in May 2025 identifying Chinese-manufactured guided bombs and howitzers in Sudan that it said the UAE was the only plausible supplier of, calling their presence a “blatant breach” of the UN arms embargo on Darfur.12Amnesty International. Sudan: Advanced Chinese Weaponry Provided by UAE Identified in Breach of Arms Embargo Human Rights Watch reported that Colombian mercenaries were recruited by an Abu Dhabi-based company, trained at UAE military facilities, and deployed to Sudan as infantry, drone pilots, and instructors in support of the RSF. In December 2025, the U.S. government imposed sanctions on a network of individuals for recruiting and training foreign fighters for the conflict.14BBC. UAE Mercenary Allegations in Sudan
The Conflict Insights Group reported that UAE-supported Colombian mercenaries were present in and around El Fasher, Darfur, during the town’s fall in October 2025. The International Criminal Court prosecutor subsequently reported that crimes against humanity and war crimes had been committed there, and a UN Fact-Finding Mission determined in February 2026 that RSF attacks bore the “hallmarks of genocide.”15Refugees International. Refugees International Calls for Action: New Evidence of United Arab Emirates Fueling Genocide in Sudan
The UAE denies these allegations. Its Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated that “the UAE does not permit its territory to be used for the recruitment, training, financing or transit of foreign fighters to any conflict, including Sudan,” and the government maintains that its interests in Sudan are geostrategic and aimed at regional stability.14BBC. UAE Mercenary Allegations in Sudan16CNN. NBA Cup Sponsorship UAE
Who Is Pressuring the NBA
The Coalition Letter and SpeakOutOnSudan
In late 2025, a coalition of 18 organizations wrote to the NBA demanding it end its Emirates partnership unless the UAE ceases its role in Sudan’s conflict. Organized under the “SpeakOutOnSudan” banner, the signers included Refugees International, The Sentry, the Darfur Women Action Group, the American Friends Service Committee, and the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights. The coalition staged a demonstration outside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on December 16, 2025, ahead of the Emirates NBA Cup Final.17Operation Broken Silence. Letter to National Basketball Association Concerning Emirates Partnership
Blood on the Ball
On May 20, 2026, The Sentry and Refugees International launched a dedicated campaign called “Blood on the Ball,” timed to run through the NBA Finals. Co-founded by John Prendergast and actor George Clooney, The Sentry framed the effort as a direct call for the NBA to suspend its UAE sponsorship deals until the country ends military support for the RSF.18Refugees International. New Campaign Urges NBA to Suspend UAE Partnership Over Role in Sudan Atrocities The campaign also targeted the WNBA and the New York Knicks, whose arena sponsorship deal with “Experience Abu Dhabi” made the franchise a separate pressure point.19Zeteo. Blood on the Basketball: The NBA Must Sever Ties With UAE
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch sent its own letter urging the NBA to develop a human rights risk mitigation strategy, publicly speak out about the UAE’s record, and allow players the freedom to do the same. HRW also asked whether the NBA’s partnership agreements contain clauses restricting the league or its employees from publicly criticizing UAE abuses. As of its June 2026 publication, HRW reported the NBA had not responded.13Human Rights Watch. NBA Risks Sportswashing Through Its UAE Ties
Congress
On April 27, 2026, Representatives James P. McGovern and Christopher H. Smith, bipartisan co-chairs of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, sent formal letters to the NBA and three other companies, the Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros. Discovery, and the National Football League, urging them to reassess their UAE-linked partnerships. The letters warned that such relationships risk “enabling or obscuring human rights violations” amid the Sudan conflict.20Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. Co-Chairs Call on U.S. Corporations to Reassess UAE Partnerships Amid Sudan Atrocity McGovern later joined a June 2, 2026, press briefing with Refugees International and the Darfur Women Action Group, where he described the NBA’s reply as a “boilerplate response” that simply cited reliance on U.S. State Department guidance.21Middle East Eye. Ahead of NBA Finals, Advocates Demand Basketball Giant Sever Ties With UAE
How the NBA Has Responded
The league has defended its UAE partnerships on two grounds: that it follows U.S. State Department guidance on where it does business, and that engagement is preferable to disengagement. Silver has said the NBA consults with the State Department before entering a new country and that the agency supports the league’s presence in the UAE. “We believe we can lead by example here,” Silver said. “Our American values travel with us around the world. We don’t believe we would benefit these markets by either divesting or disengaging.”22San Juan Daily Star. While NBA Plays in Abu Dhabi, Critics Cry Sportswashing
NBA spokesman Mike Bass told CNN in December 2025 that the league’s UAE activities “include bringing live NBA games to fans in the region and teaching the fundamentals and values of the game to thousands of boys and girls annually” and are “consistent with our efforts to engage fans and aspiring players in more than 200 countries and territories around the world.” Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum, replying to Refugees International, wrote that the NBA believes the Emirates partnership is “consistent with the NBA’s mission to inspire and connect people everywhere through the game of basketball.”16CNN. NBA Cup Sponsorship UAE
Silver has also argued that high-profile sporting events bring “disproportionate attention” to issues in host countries, generating discussion about local human rights conditions that might not otherwise occur. He has said the Emirati government does not impose restrictions on the league’s operations and that the NBA would not have come if it did.22San Juan Daily Star. While NBA Plays in Abu Dhabi, Critics Cry Sportswashing
Has the Pressure Changed Anything?
Not so far. As of mid-2026, the NBA has made no changes to its UAE partnerships in response to the advocacy campaigns or congressional letters. If anything, the financial ties are getting deeper: the Abu Dhabi extension runs nine years, sovereign wealth fund money is flowing toward team ownership through the TWG-Mubadala alliance, a European expansion league is being designed with Gulf capital in mind, and a new academy campus is under construction in Abu Dhabi.
Advocates pressing the league point to cases where public pressure moved comparable deals. Chelsea F.C. was sold after owner Roman Abramovich was sanctioned following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and both Bayern Munich and Arsenal moved to end their “Visit Rwanda” sponsorships after criticism of Rwanda’s support for rebel groups in eastern Congo.18Refugees International. New Campaign Urges NBA to Suspend UAE Partnership Over Role in Sudan Atrocities Whether the NBA reaches a similar tipping point is the open question that the Blood on the Ball campaign, the Lantos Commission letters, and the SpeakOutOnSudan coalition are all trying to force.