the governor of the Saudi Arabia sovereign wealth fund that has bankrolled LIV. But when Blumenthal pounded the gavel to commence the subcommittee’s hearing Tuesday morning on Capitol Hill, the proceeding was underscored more by their absences.
The witness chairs were instead filled by two representatives from the PGA Tour—chief operating officeran independent director of the Tour’s policy board. Both characterized the would-be merger as a means of survival.
Price’s emphasis on the Tour’s “American”-ness was telling. Ever since it set out to challenge the PGA Tour, LIV has stirred up political acrimony due to the central role of the Saudis. Critics, such as Blumenthal, have argued that the kingdom is using the Public Investment Fund , Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund that isaround $700 billion, to sanitize its record on human rights with hefty investment in elite athletics.
“It is about how a brutal, repressive regime can buy influence—indeed even take over—a cherished American institution simply to cleanse its public image,” Blumenthal said. “A regime that has killed journalists, jailed and tortured dissidents, fostered the war in Yemen, and supported other terrorist activities, including 9/11. It’s called sportswashing.”It wasn’t long ago when the PGA Tour was voicing the same lament.
In prepared remarks submitted to the committee before the Tuesday hearing, Dunne, a cofounder of the financial firm Sandler O’Neill + Partners who helped broker the deal between the PGA Tour and LIV, also invoked 9/11—but to a very different tune. “As I said at the outset, golf is incredibly important to me. In fact, September 11, 2001, found me on the golf course for an early-morning round.
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