LIV Golf lawyers are trying to shed light upon the PGA Tour’s organization structure and financial transactions as part of an Anti-trust lawsuit. However, the head Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund insists it shouldn’t be required to, claiming “sovereign immunity.”
Bloomberg News reports that Yasir Al Rumayyan, the Governor of PIF, asked a California federal judge to halt a request from the PGA Tour for their testimony and produce documents in a lawsuit accusing LIV unfairly competition for offering players lucrative deals to end their PGA contracts.
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-owned firm stated 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 large investments in companies like Walmart and Starbucks. This could lead to similar requests for information regarding any lawsuits against other companies. The wealth fund was established in 1971 to allow the Saudi Arabian government invest in different projects. It is estimated that it currently has $676 billion in assets.
Mickelson stated that “Now LIV (Golf), it’s no longer necessary for me to participate,” in September, when he resigned from the suit. “The only reason I want to stay in the suit is (monetary) damages. Which I don’t need or want.” It’s important for players to have the freedom to play whenever and wherever they like, and when and for whom they qualify. That is why LIV (Golf), is now a part. It will be achieved if and when they are successful.
The Golfweek original lawsuit states:
The Tour has used its monopoly power to create an arsenal of anticompetitive restrictions to preserve its long-standing monopoly. LIV Golf, Inc. (“LIV Golf”) has entered the market, threatening the Tour’s monopoly power. This is diametrically against its founding mission. The Tour has attempted to damage the careers and livelihoods any golfers, including Plaintiffs Phil Mickelson and Talor Gooch, Hudson Swafford and Matt Jones. In an effort to eliminate any nascent competition, the Tour has made this a constant and deliberate effort.
The PGA Tour sent the U.S. District Court of Northern California a 32 page response to the initial lawsuit and a separate 7-page example of mischaracterizations or mistruths made by LIV players.
In September, filed a countersuit seeking damages for brand damage and reputation damage.
LIV claims that the Tour has monopoly power over illegally suspended players. The Tour countersuit claims LIV uses players “to sportswash the recent history Saudi atrocities and further the Saudi Public Investment Fund’s Vision 2030 initiatives.”
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.
