PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan has been slammed by a group representing 9/11 victims after agreeing a merger with Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf.
It was announced on Tuesday that the PGA Tour had agreed to join forces with its bitter rival in a monumental deal which will alter the sport of golf. LIV Golf is owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and has caused friction in the sport by attracting top players with huge contracts.
After a year of intense in-fighting, the PGA Tour and DP World Tour has now agreed to work with LIV Golf on commercial matters. It means that Saudi Arabia, via its governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan, now has a measure of control over an entire sport.
That is catastrophic news for the victims of 9/11. The terrorist attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States, which saw a total of 2,996 people killed, involved 15 Saudi nationals and relatives of victims believe Saudi officials had advance knowledge, but did not try to stop the attacks.
A statement from 9/11 Families United said: “Saudi operatives played a role in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and now it is bankrolling all of professional golf.”
The group’s chair Terry Strada, whose husband Tom died in the World Trade Centre, said PGA Tour chief Monahan had “co-opted the 9/11 community” when the split between the tours happened and had now become a hypocrite in backtracking.
“Mr Monahan talked last summer about knowing people who lost loved ones on 9/11, then wondered aloud on national television whether LIV golfers ever had to apologise for being a member of the PGA Tour,” she said. “They do now – as does he. PGA Tour leaders should be ashamed of their hypocrisy and greed.
“Our entire community has been betrayed by Commissioner Monahan and the PGA as it appears their concern for our loved ones was merely window dressing in their quest for money – it was never to honour the great game of golf.”
Amnesty International UK’s head of priority campaigns and individuals at risk Felix Jakens added: “While this may have taken some golf fans and commentators by surprise, it’s really just more evidence of the onward march of Saudi sportswashing.
“It’s been clear for some time that Saudi Arabia was prepared to use vast amounts of money to muscle its way into top-tier golf – just part of a wider effort to become a major sporting power and to try to distract attention from the country’s atrocious human rights record.”
Monahan said: "I recognise that people are going to call me a hypocrite. Any time I've said anything I've said it with the information I had at that moment, and I said it based on someone that's trying to compete for the PGA Tour and our players.
"I accept those criticisms but circumstances do change and I think looking at the big picture got us to this point.”
