Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is now the most powerful man in world sport. Photo / Getty Images
OPINION
At 2.59pm on Tuesday, Saudi Arabia crossed the threshold of no return in the everyone-has-a-price world of elite sport. “PGA has caved,” texted one well-connected Riyadh figure as the tour announced the biggest reverse ferret in the history of golf.
Nobody, not even the aghast players, had seen a merger coming with the establishment’s sworn enemy, LIV Golf. The promises penned by the executives seemed inconceivable in the context of the two-year saga that preceded. “This will unify the game of golf,” they said in a bid to draw an end to the long-running and bitter legal battle.
The message for the rest of sport, however, was even more profound. For all the cries of sportswashing and political dissent, this was another milestone to prove Saudi has the sporting world at its feet.
The £514 billion (NZ$1.05 trillion) Public Investment Fund is undefeated in sport but this is its biggest knock-out blow yet. At every juncture, complaints have been drowned out by the sounds of coffers filling across the industry, with precedents set at each stage.
Since Anthony Joshua’s rematch with Andy Ruiz Jnr in Diriyah in Dec 2019, Saudi has become a leading destination for boxing’s biggest fights; after securing an F1 race in 2020 to enormous protest, there have two more races held at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit; and since buying Newcastle United on Oct 7 2021, Cristiano Ronaldo has swapped Premier League football for a £165 million (NZ$337m) annual salary in the Saudi Pro League.
The future significance for the PGA merger, meanwhile, is that Saudi is now comfortably the sport’s biggest backer. Tuesday’s announcement will see PIF invest “billions” into a new as-yet unnamed for-profit company. For the players who had already defected, they will have their bans from the PGA Tour and DP World Tour lifted from the end of the current season.
One insider said this will be celebrated as a diplomatic victory for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in his mission to restore his reputation with the US, as well as the UK, following the state-linked murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Just 24 hours prior to the announcement, the Crown Prince had announced his latest plans for sport as part of Vision 2030, the state’s initiative to diversify income streams away from dwindling oil reserves.
As part of that announcement, four of the kingdom’s top football clubs are being taken over by PIF this week as part of plans to eventually privatise them. There are aims for the revenue of the league to increase to £400 million (NZ$818m) annually by 2030. State sources pointed to the rapid success at Newcastle in recent years shows western scepticism is being overcome.
These milestone sporting victories all lead to an even more ambitious scheme – an attempt to bring the World Cup to the Middle East again, whatever the cost.
The country had been prioritising a potential 2030 bid, having privately offered to pay for new sports stadiums in Greece and Egypt if they agreed to team up with the nation.
However a potential Spain, Portugal, Ukraine and Morocco bid is seen by some as a potential favourite so Saudi is understood to be willing to explore 2034 as an alternative. Telegraph Sport also revealed last December that the country was also exploring plans to bring the Olympic Games to the state.
“We are always looking for new partners to join us on our transformative sports journey,” HRH Prince Abdulaziz Bin Turki Al Faisal, the Saudi sports minister, tells Telegraph Sport.
All the while, however, state-approved beheadings continue. Amnesty issued a fresh warning on Tuesday, warning “last year alone, the Saudi authorities executed 196 people, the highest number for at least 30 years.”
“The world of golf may be about to put one of its most high-profile commercial battles behind it, but it’s vital that this latest surge in Saudi sportswashing isn’t allowed to obscure the increasingly dire human rights situation in Saudi Arabia,” Felix Jakens, of Amnesty International, said in a statement.
But is anyone in sport listening? Lionel Messi, an ambassador for the nation, has Saudi Arabia hanging by the phone while mulling over a £320 million-a-year switch to a club that might struggle to win the League One title. Meanwhile, Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema finalises talks over a switch to Al-Ittihad.
The PGA, it seemed, was the last bastion in fighting LIV via the courts.
Now it has given up, expect the rest of sport to be steamrollered.
May 4
The Telegraph’s golf correspondent James Corrigan reveals that some of the world’s top golfers have been offered contracts worth up to $100 million (NZ$165m) each to play in a Saudi-backed rebel world tour that could mean they forsake the PGA Tour and even the Masters and Ryder Cup.
Oct 27
Greg Norman announces that he has accepted the position of CEO for LIV Golf Investments, of which the majority stakeholder is the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. The fund will underwrite 10 events on the Asian Tour. Norman is also tipped to become commissioner of a Saudi-backed golf league managed by LIV Golf.
Nov 21
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan sends members a memo saying the season-long purse total is set to rise by 16 per cent in 2022 from $367 million (NZ$604m) to $427 million (NZ$702m) in 2022.
Feb 2
Phil Mickelson, competing in the Saudi International, tells Golf Digest that the PGA Tour’s “obnoxious greed has really opened the door for opportunities elsewhere”. He refers to the Saudis as “scary mother------” but says LIV offers golfers a “once-in-a lifetime opportunity”. It provokes a backlash, Mickelson says he is taking time away from the game and Monahan warns would-be rebels they will be banned from the Tour if they join LIV.
Mar 17
LIV reveals its 2022 schedule – eight events, with the launch to be at Centurion in St Albans in June. The prize purse is $255 million (NZ$420m), there will be 12 teams with shotgun starts, 54 holes and no cuts.
Jun 1
PGA Tour announces that members who take part in LIV Golf events could be sanctioned for playing in a conflicting event without the Tour’s permission, which could result in fines, suspensions, or bans.
Jun 12
Charl Schwartzel wins the inaugural LIV event in Hertfordshire. The field also includes Dustin Johnson, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Sergio García and Louis Oosthuizen. They are soon joined by major champions Patrick Reed, Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka, who days earlier had committed his future to the Tour.
Jul 21
Ryder Cup captain Henrik Stenson is announced as LIV’s latest signing and is sacked as Europe’s Ryder Cup captain.
Aug 28
Eleven LIV golfers file an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour.
Jan 23
The LIV Golf Invitational Series is renamed the LIV Golf League. The season will consist of 14 54-hole tournaments with no cuts.
Jun 6
LIV Golf and the PGA Tour announce they and the European Tour are to merge into a new entity.
The Kiwi golfer is chasing the LPGA Tour season title and a huge payday.