After the Rwanda Defense Team, APR FC, defeated Les Aigles du Congo in the CAF Champions League preliminary qualifiers, it is now being questioned whether they will play in the Democratic Republic of Congo due to the conflict between the two countries.
On August 6, 2026, in Cairo, Egypt, at the headquarters of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), a lottery was held to decide how the teams from this continent will meet in its competition.
APR FC will represent Rwanda in the CAF Champions League, having drawn Les Aigles du Congo from Kinshasa in the preliminary qualifiers to be played in the first two weeks of September.
This team from RDC will host the first match between 4th and 6th September while the second leg will be hosted by APR FC in the following week, between 11th and 13th September 2026.
Les Aigles du Congo is a new team in the DRC as it was founded in 2023 by politician Vidiye Tshipanda Tshimanga who is currently a special advisor to President Félix Antoine Tshisekedi.
APR FC will go to RDC?
This question started to be asked by many after the lottery in Egypt, but getting an answer from the owners may take some time.
The truth is that the relationship between Rwanda and the DRC deteriorated as a result of the war started by the M23 armed group in 2021, where it accuses the Kinshasa State of not complying with the agreement.
RDC accuses Rwanda of being behind the M23 and giving it military aid, but it has not stopped denying it, saying it is an excuse based on failure to meet the demands of its people.
Rwanda accuses that country of working with the FDLR group, which was founded by those who participated in the genocide against the Tutsis, and which still has the intention of disrupting its security.
According to what is said between the two countries, adding that APR FC is already a team of the Rwanda Defense Forces (RDF), it shows that the decision to play in Kinshasa would be difficult.
From January 2025, the RDC closed its Embassy in Kigali, asking its staff to return to Kinshasa and asking Rwanda to do the same.
During that month, residents of the city of Kinshasa attacked the embassies of various countries, including Rwanda, accusing them of supporting the M23 armed group.
One month later, the country closed its airspace to flights from Rwanda.
Aside from these political reasons, one cannot ignore the violence of the fans of Les Aigles du Congo where in June 2026, they and AS Vita Club were punished to play without fans because of the riots that happened during the match they played in May.
Ebola does not grow in me
Since mid-May, the Democratic Republic of Congo has been threatened by an Ebola outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo virus.
This made that month, Rwanda’s Ministry of Health announced new measures to prevent the spread of Ebola, which it says will be implemented immediately.
“All foreigners” who have been or passed through the DRC in the last 30 days before they come or want to come to Rwanda “will not be allowed to enter”, according to the announcement of this Ministry.
There has been no Ebola outbreak in Rwanda since then, and the Ministry of Health said that Rwandans and foreigners who have documents that allow them to live in Rwanda but have been in the DRC for less than 30 days, will be allowed to enter the country but will first be placed in quarantine.
In the last World Cup held in the United States of America, Canada and Mexico, there were many Congolese who could not participate because of the measures put in place by countries including the United States to prevent the spread of Ebola.
On August 7, journalist Micky Jr announced that the Congolese coach of Azam FC, Florent Ibenge, arrived at his team on Thursday evening after spending a week without being allowed to see others due to the measures imposed by Rwanda on those coming from the DRC, to prevent the spread of Ebola.
All this is a possibility to beat APR FC or Les Aigle du Congo itself, while the first match will be held in RDC and the playoff is in Kigali in one week.
The CAF rules for inter-club competitions, in its article 14, provide that matches can be played at an outdoor stadium [for non-clubs] depending on the agreement of the associations or the decision of the Competition Commission of this confederation.
Reasons for this include security and not having a legal problem for the team to play.
Les Aigles du Congo is a good team but they have a lot of fans
