Saudi Arabia, "sportswashing" and the future of golf
Last week, LIV Golf held its first tournament, in London. Under normal circumstances, there would be no reason for anyone who isn't a diehard fan the sport to care. These, however, are anything but normal circumstances. LIV Golf is backed by a Saudi Arabian fund that invests in projects to help burnish the image of a regime that has a dismal record on human rights. That money has been used to lure away some star golfers, including Phil Mickelson, from the PGA Tour. And when Mickelson found himself defending his decision while asserting publicly that he has "deep, deep empathy" for the survivors of the 9/11 attacks, it became pretty clear something had gone badly wrong somewhere... GUEST: Donnovan Bennett, Sportsnet
Audio is streamed directly from the publisher (rogers.simplecastaudio.com) as published in their RSS feed. Play Podcasts does not host this file. Rights-holders can request removal through the copyright & takedown page.
Show Notes
Last week, LIV Golf held its first tournament, in London. Under normal circumstances, there would be no reason for anyone who isn't a diehard fan the sport to care. These, however, are anything but normal circumstances.
LIV Golf is backed by a Saudi Arabian fund that invests in projects to help burnish the image of a regime that has a dismal record on human rights. That money has been used to lure away some star golfers, including Phil Mickelson, from the PGA Tour. And when Mickelson found himself defending his decision while asserting publicly that he has "deep, deep empathy" for the survivors of the 9/11 attacks, it became pretty clear something had gone badly wrong somewhere...
GUEST: Donnovan Bennett, Sportsnet
We love feedback at The Big Story, as well as suggestions for future episodes. You can find us:
Through email at [email protected]
Or @thebigstory.bsky.social on Bluesky