Sportswashing confirmed on LIV Golf, but does anyone care?

Diffusing a situation or a narrative can come in many forms. Sometimes the best path forward is to simply call things as they are and remove all doubt. “Saying the quiet part out loud” is risky, but often times the backlash from doing so is more tame than the intrigue and rumors that would otherwise swirl.

Then there’s what Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), the crown price of Saudi Arabia, did this week.

As LIV Golf makes its return to the “Chicago” area — despite being 50 miles away from Chicago proper — the Tour’s leadership is calling it like it is.

MBS, a main figurehead in the creation of LIV Golf, admitted in an interview this week that sportswashing is precisely what his regime’s interest in sports is based upon.

"If sportswashing [is] going to increase my GDP [gross domestic product] by way of 1%, then I will continue doing sportwashing," he said, according to Foxnews.com. "I don't care."

The crown prince’s admittance and use of the term sportswashing — a practice used to improve one’s reputation tarnished by wrongdoing — is in some ways a relief. Ever since LIV Golf burst onto the scene two years ago journalists and golf fans alike have been whispering the term around the proverbial water cooler. Indeed, everyone knew what an underlying goal of LIV was and some chose to ignore while others vehemently opposed its creation.

But now there can be no question as to the purpose of LIV from the Public Investment Fund’s (PIF) perspective. All doubt has been removed and we are all faced with a simple choice:

Do we care or not?

Let’s put everything out on the table here. If we are honest with ourselves, fandom around LIV Golf falls into a few categories. While golf as a sport is traditionally conservative, there are pockets of liberalism and progressiveness alive and well. Amid a time where United States society has (arguably) never been more divisive, LIV Golf has captured the attention of far-right golf fans. This has a lot to do with Donald Trump’s involvement in the upstart golf league from the perspective of hosting multiple events at his golf courses.

Trust me: I know I’ve lost some readers of this article already because of the preceding paragraph. For those who are still here, let’s continue.

Make no mistake: LIV Golf and those behind the tour very much have politics in mind. This is also true for most global sports to some degree; it’s unavoidable. Sports and politics are a marriage that is alive and well with no signs of separating any time soon. Where there are millions of dollars and fans to be found, governments and political interests are not far behind.

The bigger question that has always engrossed Saudi Arabia’s interest in global sports is one of morality. The kingdom’s human rights record is well documented, and it isn’t pretty (to say the least). Just last month reports of Saudi Arabian citizens being detained (or worse) for comments made on Twitter/X once again exemplified the reach of MBS and his leaders.

The question of whether or not sports fans should care about any of this is complicated. There is no doubt Saudi Arabia will continue to infiltrate global sports more than it already has, especially in the United States. It is not outlandish to suspect the NFL, NBA, or the MLB has fielded a phone call or two from the PIF in recent years.

In fact, every walk of life is funded if not influenced to some degree by money invested by the PIF. As many social media keyboard warriors love to point out, this includes the cars we drive, products we buy, and what we choose for entertainment. This is the world in which we live, like it or not.

To take the stance of avoiding anything that receives funding from the PIF is a fool’s errand, no matter one’s take on morality or politics. But this is where the illusion of choice flourishes, especially in the context of choosing to support an organization like LIV Golf of the PGA TOUR. Choosing to support or ignore isn’t as simple as a binary option like hot or cold.

As is the case with most things in life: it’s complicated. Removing all doubt of the intent behind LIV Golf complicated things further, leaving golf fans in a precarious position if not downright confused by it all.

MBS knew this, because what are we actually going to do about it?