Report: Saudis Trying to Avoid Disclosures in PGA Tour’s Countersuit vs. LIV Golf

LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman has been strangely quiet since the end of the 2022 LIV Golf season when he said that the league was speaking with multiple networks over a television deal and that seven new golfers would be added for the 2023 season.

Outside of a handful of new courses announced, there have been no LIV acquisitions with the new season a month away. In fact, the recent news has been about defectors—two members of the executive management team are reportedly out.

Now, according to a Golfweek report, the Saudi Arabian government—the financial backers of the fledgling league—are on the defense in a U.S. courtroom.

“Having directed LIV to file an antitrust suit—initially through 11 patsy players before later joining the litigation itself—the Saudis now claim they’re not subject to the jurisdiction of the very courts whose protection they sought.” https://t.co/85uJhFIQuw

— Dan Murphy (@bungdan) January 15, 2023

You might recall that LIV and several of its golfers filed an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour, and the PGA Tour quickly countersued.

As part of the discovery phase of the trial, it was learned on Friday that the Public Investment Fund—an arm of the Saudi Arabian government that is connected with sporting events in the country and ventures like LIV and Newcastle United of soccer’s Premier League—owns 93% of LIV Golf and funds 100% of the league’s costs.

Yasir Al-Rumayyan runs the PIF and has argued that he could face up to a 20-year prison sentence in Saudi Arabia if he discloses confidential information. He’s claiming foreign sovereign immunity, but legal experts say that commercial activities like LIV Golf don’t fall under that protection.

That leaves many experts to speculate that LIV could drop its lawsuit rather than face such invasive scrutiny.

On the course, the 14-event LIV season is set to begin on Feb. 24 at Mayakoba in Mexico.

Cover Image Via The Mirror