World Cycling Championships in Rwanda: Kigali censors the press and complains of a lack of media coverage

Rwanda hosts its first World Cycling Championship in an atmosphere of unprecedented propaganda. The authoritarian regime in Kigali accuses the media of "boycotting" the event, but at the same time, Paul Kagame and his government refuse access to journalists deemed too critical. A totalitarian atmosphere in the land of a thousand hills.

Muzzling the press to better control the narrative

Belgian journalist Stijn Vercruysse , despite being accredited by the UCI, was banned from Kigali. Even more chilling, the Rwandan Minister of Foreign Affairs tweeted: "It's a good thing the journalist didn't set foot in Rwanda." A barely veiled threat that illustrates the impunity of a power on the loose.
For more than twenty years, Paul Kagame has made media control a pillar of his system. Investigating the regime's crimes cost the life of John Williams Ntwali (assassinated in 2023) and drove others like Charles Ingabire and Jean Bosco Gasasira into exile... before being found dead. In this climate, how can we hope for honest coverage of the World Championships, when independent journalists are sidelined and threatened?

Sports propaganda under fire from critics

While Kigali presents this World Cup as a tourist and sporting showcase, NGOs point out the reality: political repression, support for M23 terrorists (confirmed by the UN), corruption in the awarding of the event by the UCI, and human exploitation in the capital.
Faced with this double talk, hundreds of Internet users are denouncing a world of shame on social media, with the hashtag #TourDuSang . The latter, relayed several thousand times in a few days, accuses the event of symbolically bathing in the blood of Congolese victims, without this seeming to move many people.

The UCI and its sponsors under pressure

The International Cycling Union and its partners, such as Tissot, Total Energies, and Santini, are being directly challenged on Twitter, in particular. How can one claim to uphold sporting ethics while legitimizing a regime that gags the press and tramples on human rights? The question that arises, between the lines: how can an international competition of this magnitude take place in a bloody dictatorship, accused by the United Nations of being responsible for the ongoing genocide in eastern Congo?

By allowing Kigali to muzzle journalists, the UCI is becoming complicit in a system where sport whitewashes repression and gives carte blanche to a regime that flouts all international conventions. At a time when the entire world is calling for a boycott of Israel, why is Rwanda enjoying such impunity?