LIV Golf has been accused of sportswashing against a backdrop of human rights issues in Saudi Arabia and now their boss has been sent a plea from the sister of a man on death row.
Zeinab Abu al-Kheir has written to Greg Norman highlighting the case of her 57-year-old brother Hussein, a father of eight children who has been placed on death row after "confessing" to drug smuggling. The LIV Golf commissioner has reportedly said he 'hadn't seen' the letter and refused to comment.
The powerful letter highlights, however, that the issue is likely to continue swirling around the LIV series. "Sportswashing kills," Abu al-Kheir writes in the letter published by the Daily Mail.
"Mohammed bin Salman's regime has invested billions of dollars to launder its global image by promoting golf, F1, soccer, boxing and other sports. Meanwhile, it has stepped up the pace of executions.
"You have a choice: you can ignore the bloodstains on the welcome mat or you can acknowledge them and demand change. Elite golf can be a force for good in Saudi Arabia, but only if the leading players and tour officials insist on reform as a condition of playing there. A state that carries out mass executions is not an appropriate place to host international sporting events."
Abu al-Kheir tells the story about her brother, stating that eight years ago he was reportedly arrested for alleged drug smuggling while working as a driver for a family in Saudi Arabia.
Customs officers at the border apparently found a bag of amphetamine pills in his car and the letter writer claims officers "tortured my brother for 12 days until he confessed". She claims her brother's health has deteriorated while he has been in prison which has left the 57-year-old almost blind, and suffering from pain in his legs and stomach. Abu al-Kheir claims her brother has not seen a doctor for seven years.
She added: "If you and the players use your platform to insist on change, meaningful reform is possible. If Saudi Arabia's government makes good on their promise to end the death penalty for non-lethal crimes, it will halve the number of executions each year. My brother will be spared, along with so many others who should never have been sentenced to death."
Norman has previously claimed that golf is "a force for good" in Saudi Arabia, adding: "I've been to Saudi Arabia. I've been building golf courses in Saudi Arabia. I was part of the internal change in their culture to some small, small degree because golf is a force for good on a global basis.
"It's just insanity to me to see people sit back and try to hurt the development of the game of golf though political or whatever reasons. It just disappoints me so much because I see the true value of what golf has done on a global basis."
