The Wall Street Journal shed light, in a new report released this week, on the legal battle between PGA and LIV Golf backers, the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund, an entity controlled by the Saudi crown prince Mohamed bin Salman (MBS).
A newly public court filing alleges that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and a lead executive have refused to produce documents or sit for depositions by claiming U.S. courts don’t have jurisdiction over them.
LIV Golf’s financing from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign-wealth fund has loomed over the upstart golf circuit since its inception, above all in its battles with the PGA Tour.
Now, the PGA Tour has accused LIV of attempting to evade discovery in their high-profile court battle by claiming that there is no court in the U.S. with jurisdiction over LIV’s financial backer, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, and its governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan.
The Public Investment Fund of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (PIF), which owns LIV Golf, and the head of PIF, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, initially agreed to receive subpoenas from the PGA Tour, the tour claimed in the court filing.
However, the tour alleges that PIF and Al-Rumayyan have since “done a complete about-face,” refusing to produce documents or appear for a deposition.
The LIV Golf owners reportedly claimed that “there is no court in the United States with jurisdiction over them” and that they are immune from the process of discovery. They also argued that they are irrelevant to the lawsuit.
The PGA Tour asked the court in its October filing to force PIF and Al-Rumayyan to comply with its subpoenas.
The PGA Tour and LIV Golf are currently facing off in a federal antitrust lawsuit, which was initially filed by Phil Mickelson and several other golfers who were suspended by PGA for joining the upstart league.
They accused the PGA Tour, which does not allow its players to compete in other televised golf tournaments without permission, of illegally attempting to block competition.
Billions to Boost MBS’ International Image
48 players have signed up for the rebel golf league backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, seeking for $250 million in prize money at the event.
Human rights organisations have long accused Saudi Arabia of using sport to whitewash its poor human rights record.
USA Today newspaper has earlier charged the participant players for destroying their reputations as they sportswash for MBS.
The newspaper further called for stigmatizing and penalizing LIV golfers for taking money from a repressive regime led by MBS.
MBS has spent at least $1.5bn on high-profile international sporting events in a bid to bolster its reputation, a Grant Liberty report revealed in 2021.
For its part, the Economist affirmed that Saudi Arabia is using sports to buy a new reputation. However, throwing billions at a breakaway golf tour will not polish the kingdom’s image, the paper added.
For all the changes in Saudi Arabia over the past seven years, the kingdom is stuck on its old strategy of trying to buy its way out of a shoddy reputation, it added.
The BBC also said public spectacles and sporting events are part of the Saudi government’s well-funded efforts to whitewash its image despite a significant increase in repression over the last few years.
Along the same line, The Guardian charged that “the brutal regime has got sportswashing down to a tee, and the west is more than willing to be its caddie.”
Sportswashing, a key element, is about glossing over and diverting attention from the regime’s ongoing human rights abuses, mistreatment of women, intolerance of political dissent and brutal penal system. In March, 81 people, many from the much-persecuted Shia Muslim minority, died in a mass execution, The Guardian added.
Social media activists also slam MBS’ failed attempts to sportwash his human rights violations at home and abroad, despite spending billions of dollars in international sporting events.
