Three top football clubs from Sudan are set to compete in Rwanda’s league this season as the civil unrest back home continues to halt all sporting activities.
Since April 2023, Sudan has been torn apart by violent clashes between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, leaving over 150,000 people dead and displacing around 12 million, one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises.
Although some people have begun returning after the army regained control of Khartoum, the capital’s major football clubs remain in exile, with their facilities destroyed by the war.
Last season, Al Hilal and Al Merrikh were granted permission to play in Mauritania to stay active and preserve their club operations. This time, they will be joined by Al Ahli Wad Madani in Rwanda’s national league, according to the Rwanda Football Association.
In July, Al Hilal and Al Merrikh, who have dominated Sudanese football since the league’s creation in 1965, took part in a mini-tournament in Ad-Damer and Atbara to determine representation in the 2025–26 continental competitions. They finished first and second, with Al Ahli Wad Madani coming in third.
However, with the conflict still ongoing, a standard domestic league remains impossible, prompting their request to relocate temporarily to Rwanda.
Al Hilal also secured a spot in the CAF Champions League group stage after defeating Kenya’s Police FC 4–1 on aggregate, playing their “home” fixture in Benghazi, Libya.
Libya has similarly hosted Sudan’s national football team, who are set to participate in the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco later this year, despite not playing a home match since March 2023.
