LIV Golf-PGA Merger Is Another Attempt Of Sportswashing By Saudi? Controversy Explained!

The PGA Tour and LIV Golf’s “rivalry” is ended following the two organizations’ unexpected U-turn on Tuesday, when it appeared that their disagreements would be impossible to resolve. PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan revealed that he personally informed LIV Golf Tour CEO Greg Norman of the announcement. This merger added fuel to the “sportswashing” allegations on Saudi!

Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of the Saudi PIF (Public Investment Fund), is a prominent participant in this enormous agreement.

Al-Rumayyan’s achievements in those positions caught the attention of Mohammed Bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince, who nominated him as managing director of PIF in September 2015 after giving the organization additional authority to make investments overseas and installing a new board.

The PIF has been a significant player in business for the past several years, investing in minorities in companies like Boeing, META, Citigroup, Disney, and Bank of America. The PIF has been financing LIV Golf up to this point.

The fund, which has a market value of over $650 billion, was established in 1971 with the primary objective of investing money on behalf of Saudi Arabia.

USA Government Set To Investigate Into The merger

The chairman of a US Senate subcommittee has demanded documents from the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s LIV Golf on the discussions that resulted in their proposed merger.

Democratic representative from Connecticut Richard Blumenthal wrote letters to Greg Norman, CEO of LIV, and PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan on Monday.

“While few details about the agreement are known, PIF’s role as an arm of the Saudi government and PGA Tour’s sudden and drastic reversal of position concerning LIV Golf raise serious questions regarding the reasons for and terms behind the announced agreement,” Blumenthal wrote in a letter to Monahan.

LIV Golf-PGA Merger Is An Attempt Of Sportswashing By Saudi?

The Saudi monarchy has taken several actions in recent years, including this one. Its growing vested interest in the sports industry is related to bin Salman’s alleged objective of modernizing and diversifying the oil-rich kingdom’s economy in preparation for a post-oil era. The investments, however, are essentially attempts to “sportswash,” according to critics, the country’s past of human rights crimes.

Human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia have a lengthy history. These include violations of women’s rights, persecution of LGBTQ+ persons, restrictions on free expression, and a sharp rise in the use of the death sentence under bin Salman. That includes an all-day beheading in March 2022 that resulted in 81 deaths.

Additionally, the Saudi government was charged with providing financial support for the 9/11 terrorist attacks, a charge the country has refuted. A joint CIA-FBI file from 2004 found no proof the Saudi government was responsible for the attacks. However, more recent allegations from U.S. intelligence suggest that at least some Saudi officials knew about the attack plans and/or had ties to the hijackers who crashed planes into the Pentagon and the World Trade Center twin towers. Of the 19 hijackers, 15 were Saudi nationals.

The CIA also concluded in 2021 that bin Salman gave the go-ahead for the murder of Jamal Kashoggi in Istanbul in October 2018.People who appealed for peace while Saudi Arabia and Qatar were at odds have been detained. Jamal Kashoggi, a Saudi dissident and writer for the Washington Post, was killed in cold blood by the government in 2018.

Women who requested the right to drive vehicles have been imprisoned.

Then, these factors may defeat Saudi Arabia’s goals. Investors might not want to put money into the nation. They won’t include the country in the Middle East on their list of “Top Travel Destinations.” And Saudi Arabia’s ambitious Vision 2030 plan to transition away from its reliance on oil and toward tourist and corporate earnings may encounter difficulties.

Therefore, it must provide a positive image. And the kingdom thinks that the greatest way to achieve this is via sports. Bit by bit!

Not the First Time Saudi Has Attempted Sportswashing

One of the greatest teams in English football, Newcastle United, was purchased by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund in 2021. Then, it persuaded footballing sensation Cristiano Ronaldo to sign with Al Nassr, a Saudi football team.

Rumors surfaced in 2023 that it intended to acquire Formula 1 from its American owners. It didn’t develop into anything, but it continues to hold an annual race with some of the world’s top drivers tearing around its street course.

In August 2019, details of a long-term motorsports facility in the Saudi city of Riyadh were made public. In November 2020, the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was added to the F1 World Championship schedule, and the first event was held on December 5, 2021.

Since then, the race has been held annually, with Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, and Sergio Perez taking first, second, and third place, respectively.

Then there were rumors that it intended to host the most lavish T20 cricket competition ever. larger than the IPL, yes. And even if it doesn’t succeed, it has managed to infiltrate the sporting world; if you watched the IPL, you probably saw advertisements for “Visit Saudi” ads each time the batsman struck a six.

https://twitter.com/Colin1866/status/1648353325463531522?s=20

Cristiano Ronaldo signs with Al-Nassr (Dec. 30, 2022)- Cristiano Ronaldo, perhaps the most known athlete in the world, played for European teams throughout the whole of his professional career. These include Juventus (2018–21), Real Madrid (2009–18), and Manchester United once more (2021-22).

Ronaldo surprised the globe by joining Al-Nassr of the Saudi Professional League for a whopping $211 million per year — including commercial deals — until 2025 after his second departure from Old Trafford.

Despite the fact that the league receives the majority of its funding from the government’s investment arm, Greg Norman, the CEO of LIV Golf, has refuted accusations that it is a part of a Saudi sportswashing operation.

“I don’t know what the Saudi government does. I don’t want to get into that,” he said in an interview with Sky Sports last summer. “… They’re not my bosses. We’re independent. I do not answer to Saudi Arabia.”

In response to an email asking about its investment in LIV Golf and its assertion that it is sportswashing, the Public Investment Fund did not react right away.

 

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