A federal judge has ruled against LIV Golf, a group that finances the league. This could have a profound impact on the fledgling circuit’s anti-trust lawsuit against it.
LIV Golf lawyers have tried to shed light on the PGA Tour’s organizational structure, financial transactions, but the head of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund tried not to suffer the same fate. He claimed “sovereign immunity” in a November filing.
A federal judge ruled that the PIF’s governor Yasir al-Rumayyan and the PIF must share the same information. This move is expected to slow down any suit’s aggressiveness and possibly even stop it altogether. It is not clear if Saudi officials will divulge such information.
According the Wall Street Journal
Magistrate Judge Susan van Keulen in the U.S. District Court of Northern California rejected the argument in an Order that was issued Feb. 9. However, it remained sealed as LIV and PGA Tour fought over proposals to redact confidential information. Late Thursday’s filing included a redacted copy.
LIV Golf was able to take over the original suit that was filed in August by Phil Mickelson along with 10 other golfers.
Officials from the Saudi-run company insist that they have only high-level oversight of LIV Golf and do not deal with daily operations. It was also requested that PIF reveal its books as it has investments in large corporations such as Walmart and Starbucks. This could create a dangerous precedent and allow for similar requests to be made over any lawsuits against other companies.
The wealth fund was established in 1971 to allow the Saudi Arabian government invest in different projects and companies. It is estimated that it has a value of over $650 billion.
However, Thursday’s filing indicated that LIV and PIF are too intertwined to be separated for legal purposes.
The Court denied the motion of PIF for quash of the subpoena directed at PIF on the ground of sovereign immunity, because it found that PIF’s conduct fell within the Commercial Activity exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act.” It is clear that PIF does not just invest in LIV, but is also the driving force behind its creation, financing, oversight, and operation. PIF’s actions are indisputable the type of actions that a private party uses to trade, traffic, or commerce.
LIV attorneys claimed that the PGA Tour is illegally suspending and hanging players from future major tournaments. But the Tour countersued, claiming LIV is using players “and the game golf to sportswash recent history of Saudi atrocities, and to further the Saudi Public Investment Fund’s Vision 2030 initiatives.”
The PGA Tour lawyers highlighted a text message exchange between Al-Rumayyan, Bryson DeChambeau, and Bryson as a shining example. They also noted that Al-Rumayyan reached to a television executive to try to get a media deal.
This is not what a government does. This is what someone who runs a golf league does. LIV is pretty much just a shell and all financial consequences flow through to PIF,” Elliot Peters, a tour lawyer, said at a January hearing.
LIV Golf lawyers have already appealed Thursday’s decision.
LIV Golf is long criticized for being a means for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to sportwash its human rights record by securing guaranteed money and multimillion-dollar deals. Saudi Arabia has been accused in a wide range of human rights violations, including torture, forced disappearances, political killings, and inhumane treatment for prisoners. Saudi royals and the Saudi government were also accused of being involved in Jamal Khashoggi’s murder, a Washington Post columnist and journalist from Saudi Arabia.
