Bayern Munich CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen has defended the club from criticism by Human Rights Watch on their new partnership with Rwanda.

“We didn’t hide the partnership with Rwanda but dealt with it very aggressively,” Dreesen said on Wednesday.

“One of the reasons is that we see Africa as a continent of opportunities. We are not the first and will not be the last to start engagements in Africa. Going to this continent more intensively is part of our internationalization strategy.

Bayern have become partners of Rwanda’s sports ministry in a football development programme, which could also bring young talent to the Bundesliga champions, and of the Rwanda Development Board which includes support of the Visit Rwanda tourism campaign.

The deal announced on Sunday cames after Bayern did not renew a contract with Qatar Airways in summer.

Fans and rights groups had criticised the Qatar partnership because of the country’s human rights record, and Human Rights Watch Getrmany director Wenzel Michalski has now spoken out in a similar way against the Rwanda deal.

“Anyone who thought that Bayern were changing the sponsor for human rights reasons will be heavily disappointed now,” he told dpa on Tuesday.

“The partnership now with Rwanda is a very, very bad choice as well.

“It is a state where human rights are trampled on,” Michalski said.

Rwanda is governed by the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) which according to HRW “continues to target those perceived as a threat to the government.”

Dreesen said Bayern have taken note of the criticism but said they had dealt “intensively” with the issue before the partnership was sealed.

“There is a lot of poverty but economic prosperity is being worked on,” Dreesen said.

Dreesen also said that Germany has been engaged in various partnerships with Rwanda for 60 years, that German Chacellor Olaf Scholz visited the country last year, and that there were also several European Union projects in the African country.