The American legal system embarrasses the multi-billion dollar Saudi investment fund. The legal battle between his LIV golf tournament series and the PGA Tour reveals that the sports washing campaign is playing a double game.
The first season in the magnificent, nouveau riche world financed with Saudi billions begins a year ago at its best. The prize money? Richer than ever. The way to work? Free in a huge charter plane with colleagues. In the plane? A large lounge with a bar, wide leather seats and background music.
The comfort of the LIV Golf series still seems not enough for some golf professionals – although some are said to have changed for 100 million dollars.
Disputes quickly escalate
Eleven players, including Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau, sued their old golfing home, the PGA Tour, in a San Francisco court in August. The accusation: The PGA Tour, the dominant golf tour in the USA, unjustifiably threw her out after switching to LIV. Now only three players remain, they continue to seek damages from the PGA Tour.
The dispute quickly escalated. And not just because players like Tiger Woods publicly attack the renegades and the chief manager of the Saudi tour, former world number one Greg Norman:
“No one is willing to negotiate in the face of a lawsuit like this. First of all, Greg has to go. And then the lawsuit against us from the table. And then our counterclaim.”
Saudi Arabia wraps itself in a cloak of silence
The noise level that the argument creates in public is one thing. The real escalation of the conflict is happening behind the scenes since LIV Golf joined the players in court.
The main proceedings are only scheduled for early 2024. But the PGA Tour’s attorneys are taking advantage of the tools afforded them by the American Code of Civil Procedure: pre-trial evidence. A massive lever to find out sensitive internals even against the will of the other side.
Jodi Balsam, law professor in New York and expert in sports law, tells Deutschlandfunk how it works in the USA:
“It means you can ask for copies of documents, subpoena witnesses and question them under oath at this stage of the process. In the case of LIV Golf versus the PGA Tour, the organizers of the most important tournaments can be scrutinized – but also the state Saudi Investment Fund. And he fights tooth and nail against giving anyone any insight.”
What role does the Saudi state play in the background?
What could the Saudi Public Investment Fund, which has pledged the equivalent of two billion euros for LIV Golf, mind about revealing its true intentions? The main reason has already become clear in court, says Jodi Balsam. It’s about the role that the Saudi state plays in the background. The fund is not an independent operation.
“They emphasize that almost every board member of the public investment fund is a senior official of the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. And that all information about its activities is classified as confidential. There are also no exceptions, for example for testimonies or court proceedings. Secrecy is a core value of the country’s legal system. The Saudis find themselves in a paradoxical situation. They would be breaking Saudi law if they testified in the US. So how do you solve the problem? I think they get out of the process as soon as possible.
”The curiosity, however, is that the fund expressly denied this connection when it took over the English Premier League club Newcastle United in 2021.
At the time, Premier League chief executive Richard Masters told the BBC:
“There are legally binding assurances that the state will not have control over the club. If we find evidence to the contrary, we may remove the consortium of owners in accordance with our rules.
“How much proof does the league need? When the developments in the process became known in England at the beginning of March, Amnesty International called for the takeover to be reconsidered. The league has ignored this so far. Although Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the sovereign wealth fund, also serves as chairman of Newcastle United and is trying to enforce a right to remain silent in the San Francisco court. So far in vain.
Which is why the signs point to an out-of-court settlement so that there are no more insights into Saudi sports washing. But Jodi Balsam has trouble imagining something like this:
“Saudi sportswashing has taken many forms. The tactic in golf is one of the most outrageous. It’s one thing to invest in a team in a foreign country and then comply with the laws there. It’s different to set up a tournament series like LIV Golf with government support, with the taint of the country’s human rights abuses in its luggage. Embarking on something like this might be a step too far for many. There may be some PGA Tour devotees struggling to resume LIV golfers. At least not immediately as part of an agreement.”
Source: deutschlandfunk
