A Golf War Between the American Professional Association and Saudi Arabia

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) is trying to tighten his grip on golf, the game of the elites in the United States, through his country’s sovereign fund, within a competition that is not devoid of monopolism.

Bin Salman’s fund led to a division in the American golf world when he founded the LIV Golf League.

It aims to be at the level of the PGA Professional Championship and the European Championships as well.

MBS attracted many international stars of the golf, such as Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson, to LIV Golf, with huge amounts of money, with imposing monopolistic practices.

A crisis erupted between the new Saudi-backed league and the American professional associations that resorted to the judiciary to prevent such practices and to show more transparency on the part of the Saudis.

After entering the world of golf, bin Salman turned this “velvet world” into hell and sought complete and sudden control.

Soon, he caused sharp, unprecedented divisions in the most prominent sports body within the American Professional Association and created a new championship, which attracted top players with dreamy offers; Riyadh spent billions of dollars on that world to extend its influence over the game.

 

New Clash

The continuous progress of the kingdom sparked an interaction from the pioneers of the game, who saw that bin Salman was trying to whitewash his bad reputation regarding the “deteriorating” human rights in his country.

It also seeks to exploit the game and its great athletes as a kind of soft power, a strategy that influences the global media and the international community.

On January 20, 2022, Bloomberg reported that a sharp clash occurred between the American Professional Golf Association, PGA, and the Saudi Sovereign Fund.

It also indicated that the matter between them had reached a dead end after the American Association demanded some information from the Saudi Fund for its antitrust suit before the US courts that it filed against its Saudi-backed North American competitor, LIV Golf.

According to the agency, the fund’s lawyers, in papers submitted in the case, quoted the governor of the Saudi sovereign fund, Yasir al-Rumayyan, as saying it is not possible to approve the potential issuance of any documents or information that would contradict Saudi law.

On the other hand, the association’s lawyers announced that what the Saudi fund and its governors proposed, along with the unwillingness to concede to disclose the required information, will complicate the situation.

On January 13, 2023, US Judge Susan Van Keulen asked the PGA agents to file a joint case report on discussions related to the association’s request to compel the Saudi Fund and its portfolios to comply with subpoenas in the association’s lawsuit.

The Professional Golf Association accuses its competitor, LIV Golf, of committing unfair competition by offering players attractive deals to terminate their contracts with the association.

 

Raging War

The American LIV Golf appeared in the world of sports in 2021, by order of Muhammad bin Salman when he demanded to attract a group of distinguished players with a promise of huge profits in exchange for leaving the Professional Golfers’ Association Championship—among them was the former number one in the world, Greg Norman.

LIV Golf Association is wholly owned by the Saudi Public Investment Fund, a sovereign wealth fund with assets of nearly $700 billion and headed directly by the Saudi crown prince.

In 2023, the new LIV Golf series competitions were launched, and the civil war for the game began.

On January 15, 2023, New York Post (NYP) dealt with the impact of the new, Saudi-backed tournament on the world of golf, saying that from a human rights and legal perspective, LIV Golf is seeking, by royal order, to determine whether the Association of Professional Golfers is responsible for financing the anti-Saudi protests organized by groups such as September 11th Victim Compensation Fund and September 11th Families Association.

Those groups have been working for years to try to incriminate the kingdom and have filed a federal lawsuit accusing Saudi Arabia of complicity in the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people on September 11, 2001.

It also sought the release of classified FBI documents related to Saudi Arabia’s role in the attacks.

On the other hand, the Association of Professional Golfers confirmed that LIV Golf had commissioned a company to compile a file on the protests.

NYP considered this a worrying matter for the people participating in the protests, to say the least, in light of Saudi Arabia’s human rights record, especially after the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside his country’s consulate in Istanbul in 2018.

 

The Prince and the Crime

The intense conflict between the two American associations and the Saudi-backed one reached the point of using the human rights card and summoning the kingdom’s horrific file in this regard.

Even the veteran player Phil Mickelson, who joined the Saudi League, sparked controversy with statements in which he previously criticized the kingdom.

On February 18, 2022, he told The Telegraph that he was ready to overlook the human rights record in Saudi Arabia and to participate in a golf tournament to benefit from the kingdom’s money.

He said he knew that Saudi Arabia killed Jamal Khashoggi and has a terrible record on human rights, but it gave players a lot of money. This is an opportunity that only comes once in a lifetime, and he is not even interested in the success of the Saudi Golf League.

He announced that he was playing in the Saudi golf league to gain influence and money only and that he had received $100 million to participate.

On January 10, 2022, The Daily Beast reported that Mickelson received $ 200 million to join the new project.

On the other hand, a group of senior players refused to respond to the appeal of bin Salman’s money, led by international golfer Rory McIlroy, who warned young golf stars not to play in the Saudi League.

During press statements on February 19, 2022, McIlroy said that he was not ready to tarnish his reputation with Saudi money.

He explained that the exorbitant amounts of money offered will not make much difference to the elite golfers in the world.

 

Sports Washing

In that context, the Alhurra website published, on June 10, 2022, a report confirming that “the sudden entry of the Kingdom into the world of golf comes within a multi-level approach to changing its stereotype as a rich and conservative country.”

It stated that “Saudi Arabia’s rulers are targeting the structures and organizations that have governed professional golf for nearly a century, which is different from buying a European football team or hosting a global sporting event with the aim of sports washing.

“The new league, funded by Saudi Arabia, brought together 48 dissident players who were seduced by excessive financial prizes, amounting to more than $ 250 million, extending over 8 rounds around the world, and in a unique format over a period of three days without interruption.”

The website added that “among the 48 dissident players, 16 stars are ranked among the 100 best players in the world.”

Alhurra pointed out that “investments of this kind have accelerated since 2015 when the crown prince planned to become the de facto ruler and led a comprehensive process of change aimed at opening up the kingdom’s economy and culture.”

In all of this, bin Salman tried to whitewash his reputation by putting the kingdom’s name in the media in ways that are not related to its terrible record in the field of human rights, its military intervention in Yemen, or the assassination of journalist Khashoggi by a special assassination squad of Saudi agents who worked under his supervision.