The chair of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) has sent letters to PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and Saudi-backed LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman asking for records regarding their new agreement / merger. The PGA dropped a bombshell last week when it announced it was dropping litigation against LIV Golf and had decided to form a new non-profit organization headed by the Saudi governor of its public investment fund Yasir Al-Rumayyan, controlled by sinister Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin "Bone Saw" Salman. The Saudis have been accused of using LIV Golf and other forays into international sports in efforts to "sportswash" their terrible human rights record and their murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. From the Washington Post's account:
"In his letters to Monahan and Norman, Blumenthal wrote about the skepticism critics hold over the Saudis’ intent 'to use investments in sports to further the Saudi government’s strategic objectives.'
'Critics have cast such Saudi investments in sports as a means of “sportswashing” — an attempt to soften the country’s image around the world — given Saudi Arabia’s deeply disturbing human rights record at home and abroad,' the letter said.
Blumenthal asked for a sweeping set of documents — essentially all communications between LIV and the tour beginning in October 2021 through the present." (our emphasis)
The Saudi sovereign wealth fund is bankrolling the new arrangement, leading to major concerns that the arrangement occurred after the principals received large sums of money to enter into this agreement. The PGA players were not informed beforehand of the deal, after many had turned down lucrative offers to play in the Saudi-funded LIV tour. The arrangement may also trigger anti-trust action by the Federal government, given the scope of the control over professional golf worldwide. It's already prompted 9-11 memorial groups to condemn the deal with the Saudis, given the involvement of 18 Saudi nationals in the September 11, 2001 attack.
(photo: New golf chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan and associate. AP)
