U.S. Senate Subcommittee Investigates PGA Tour’s Alliance with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund

U.S. Senate Subcommittee Investigates PGA Tour’s Alliance with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund

The United States Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations has launched a review of the PGA Tour’s proposed partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and the DP World Tour. The PGA Tour had announced that it would create a new for-profit entity that would combine the commercial businesses of the LIV Golf League, which PIF is funding, with the help of DP World Tour. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a member of the subcommittee, has sent a letter to PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and LIV Golf CEO and commissioner Greg Norman, raising concerns over the deal.

Reasons for U.S. Senate Subcommittee’s Inquiry

Blumenthal has highlighted concerns about PIF’s role as an arm of the Saudi government and the PGA Tour’s sudden reversal of its position on LIV Golf. In his letter to Monahan, Blumenthal wrote that PIF’s assets of over $700 billion were created by the Saudi Arabian monarchy and operated by a board under Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman’s guidance. Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the PIF governor and Bin Salman’s close confidant, will become the new golf entity’s chairman. Blumenthal has raised concerns about the Saudi government’s influence over the effort and the risks posed by a foreign government entity taking control of an American institution. He has also criticized the Saudis’ billion-dollar investments into sports as a form of “sportswashing” to improve the country’s image around the world.

Blumenthal has requested numerous documents and communication related to the PGA Tour’s relationship with LIV Golf and PIF, including a copy of the agreement and any plans for the new entity, communication between Monahan and others about the risks posed by LIV Golf, ownership of LIV Golf, and Saudi Arabia’s influence on LIV Golf, any disputes related to the PGA Tour and PIF, LIV Golf, Monahan, or Al-Rumayyan, records relating to the Tour’s tax-exempt status, documents produced by the Tour in response to any inquiry or investigation by law enforcement or a regulatory agency, and the tour’s and new entity’s organizational charts.

Blumenthal has also raised concerns about the PGA Tour’s tax-exempt status being at risk due to the alliance with the Saudis. The PGA Tour has stated that the new agreement with PIF would not affect its operations and that it would continue to operate as a tax-exempt nonprofit and control its scheduling, sanctioning of events, rules, and competition.

Response from Politicians and the Department of Justice

Blumenthal’s concerns have been echoed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who has expressed worries about the proposed alliance. She has accused the PGA Tour of “selling out to the Saudi regime to draw attention from its atrocious human rights record with a new golf monopoly.” The U.S. Department of Justice is also investigating the PGA Tour’s alleged monopolistic behavior after 11 LIV Golf players filed a federal antitrust case against the PGA Tour. According to a news release announcing the deal, the new alliance will end all court proceedings between the PGA Tour and PIF.

The U.S. Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations has begun a review of the PGA Tour’s proposed partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and the DP World Tour. Sen. Richard Blumenthal has raised concerns about PIF’s role as an arm of the Saudi government and the PGA Tour’s sudden reversal of its position on LIV Golf. The PGA Tour has stated that the new agreement with PIF would not affect its operations and that it would continue to operate as a tax-exempt nonprofit and control its scheduling, sanctioning of events, rules, and competition. The U.S. Department of Justice is also investigating the PGA Tour’s alleged monopolistic behavior. The new alliance ends all court proceedings between the PGA Tour and PIF.

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