Not everyone wants to watch a bunch of fading stars wearing tasteless checked trousers knock a little white object around a golf course. Strange, too, that Saudi Arabia is paying “rebel” players to do so in a breakaway tournament, given its dislike of dissidents of every stripe. Yet in this arena, as in so many others, the public interest has not been considered. That’s par for the course for the anti-democratic regime of the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.
First reports from last week’s inaugural round of the Saudi-funded LIV golf tournament in Hertfordshire suggest there is a long way to go before it matches the thrills and huge audiences of the US Masters and the Open. But modest beginnings did not prevent the PGA Tour, organiser of the men’s professional game in North America, banning 17 LIV competitors for daring to take the Saudi shilling.
It would be gratifying to think such swift punishment was prompted by righteous outrage at yet another blatant sportswashing scheme by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, chaired by Salman. Sadly, not. The PGA Tour appears motivated by a desire to protect its monopolistic position, existing deals with star players and lucrative TV and sponsorship rights. The “rebels”, some nearing the end of their careers, appear motivated by money while claiming to uphold the principle of free agency.
This storm in a golf cart is far from spent. The DP World Tour could also impose bans. Legal action may ensue. But that will not worry the Saudis, who offered a too-tempting $4m (£3.2m) in prize money to the first LIV Series individual winner from a pot worth $20m. The lure of hard cash, overriding competitive, political and ethical considerations, is what drives Salman’s global soft power strategy – a strategy that is rapidly transforming, distorting, and weaponising international sport.
Treasure chests of Saudi petrodollars are now invested in Formula One motor racing, horse racing, boxing and wrestling. Earlier this year, the $600bn wealth fund invested over $1.5bn in the booming global gaming and eSports industry. Most notoriously, its purchase of Newcastle United, an English Premier League club, gave the regime a foothold in the world of football to potentially rival that of its Gulf neighbours, the UAE and Qatar.
The Saudi soft power strategy aims for enhanced international status, investment and influence against the backdrop of Salman’s “Vision 2030” national modernisation plan. 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.
In a week when the UK price of a tankful of unleaded petrol rose above £100, it is galling that western democracies are helping to fund sportswashing – and a gradual takeover of their sporting heritage. The kingdom’s income from oil exports rose to $1bn a day in March. Galling, too, that this vast trade facilitates other objectionable Saudi policies, such as its Yemen intervention, while fundamentally undermining efforts to cut global carbon emissions.
After the Saudi journalist and regime critic, Jamal Khashoggi, was murdered in 2018, Joe Biden declared Saudi Arabia a pariah state and refused to meet Salman. Now the US president is considering a visit to Riyadh next month, partly to lobby for cheaper oil – a humiliating prospect. The west’s relationship with Saudi Arabia is deeply unhealthy and has been for years. As Riyadh’s influence grows, so too will the problems.
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