PGA + LIV= The Moral Collapse of Sport, not just Golf

[Stavros]

Imagine it is 1953, or 1963, or 1973, or 1983, and an official body of the USSR buys Newcastle United football club, or the Boston Red Sox; or funds entirely the PGA tour of world Golf. Cue speeches and articles apoplectic with rage, justified, as well as hysterical denunciations of the USSR as a place of summary execution, show trials and the Gulag, the invasions of Hungary and Czechoslovakia, not to mention the lunacy of Central Planning.

Fast forward to 2023 and the Kingdom that produced most of the 9/11 Hi-Jackers, through its sponsorship of Sport, has embarked on a deliberate campaign to lube the arseholes of the sporting world prior to being royally Fucked again, and again, and again.

Public beheadings in Saudi Arabia? Abducting and dismembering Khashoggi? 9/11? So what! is the response of Golf and Football.

A long history of terror that began in the early 20th century when Ibn Said forged an alliance with the legacy of a nutcase called Mohammed ibn al-Wahab (it was his brother who described him as 'mad'), and you have the forerunners of Al-Qaeda, then known as the 'Ikhwan' who rode out of the Nejd to terrorise the Hejaz before seizing control of Mecca, ousting the Hashemites, destroying historic buildings there, and in Medina and Jeddah, a comprehensive destruction of some of the finest vernacular architecture in Arabia that even Mao could not complete in China.

At no point in the last 100 years has anyone who lives there been asked if they want to be ruled by the House of Saud, and if they do complain or agitate, prison or the sword will deal with them. And everyone knows this, inside Saudi Arabia and outside. Will critics of the LIV/PGA partnership end up headless in Riyadh?

Sport has been defiled, it has been dragged into a sewer of corruption, violence and hate, but it seems so obsessed with money are the morally wretched people who manage golf and football and indeed, play it too, that no amount of documentary evidence showing what Saudi Arabia is like, will have an deter them from surrendering the ' Free World's' sporting clubs and organizations to religious monsters who chop people's heads off and regularly threaten governments who complain about them.

What if it was Putin or Kim Jong-Un doing this?

Not so much a sad day, as a day of shame. But what to do? Does anyone have the courage to take on these deranged murderers and ideological freaks, the friends of Jared Kushner, the men who made Trump gush with plaudits because they paid him millions for his yacht, and who knows what else/how much else they have paid him.

No surprises at the venal behaviour of the Trump family, but what about the USA and those 'shared values' we keep hearing about?

All gone into the sewer, swimming in shit-and-blood smeared dollars.

PGA’s ‘merger’ with LIV can’t be seen as anything other than a Saudi victory | Golf | The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/jun/06/pgas-merger-with-liv-cant-be-seen-as-anything-other-than-a-saudi-victory)

[rodinuk]

It’s an absolute sell-out.

[KnightHawk 2.0]

Imagine it is 1953, or 1963, or 1973, or 1983, and an official body of the USSR buys Newcastle United football club, or the Boston Red Sox; or funds entirely the PGA tour of world Golf. Cue speeches and articles apoplectic with rage, justified, as well as hysterical denunciations of the USSR as a place of summary execution, show trials and the Gulag, the invasions of Hungary and Czechoslovakia, not to mention the lunacy of Central Planning.

Fast forward to 2023 and the Kingdom that produced most of the 9/11 Hi-Jackers, through its sponsorship of Sport, has embarked on a deliberate campaign to lube the arseholes of the sporting world prior to being royally Fucked again, and again, and again.

Public beheadings in Saudi Arabia? Abducting and dismembering Khashoggi? 9/11? So what! is the response of Golf and Football.

A long history of terror that began in the early 20th century when Ibn Said forged an alliance with the legacy of a nutcase called Mohammed ibn al-Wahab (it was his brother who described him as 'mad'), and you have the forerunners of Al-Qaeda, then known as the 'Ikhwan' who rode out of the Nejd to terrorise the Hejaz before seizing control of Mecca, ousting the Hashemites, destroying historic buildings there, and in Medina and Jeddah, a comprehensive destruction of some of the finest vernacular architecture in Arabia that even Mao could not complete in China.

At no point in the last 100 years has anyone who lives there been asked if they want to be ruled by the House of Saud, and if they do complain or agitate, prison or the sword will deal with them. And everyone knows this, inside Saudi Arabia and outside. Will critics of the LIV/PGA partnership end up headless in Riyadh?

Sport has been defiled, it has been dragged into a sewer of corruption, violence and hate, but it seems so obsessed with money are the morally wretched people who manage golf and football and indeed, play it too, that no amount of documentary evidence showing what Saudi Arabia is like, will have an deter them from surrendering the ' Free World's' sporting clubs and organizations to religious monsters who chop people's heads off and regularly threaten governments who complain about them.

What if it was Putin or Kim Jong-Un doing this?

Not so much a sad day, as a day of shame. But what to do? Does anyone have the courage to take on these deranged murderers and ideological freaks, the friends of Jared Kushner, the men who made Trump gush with plaudits because they paid him millions for his yacht, and who knows what else/how much else they have paid him.

No surprises at the venal behaviour of the Trump family, but what about the USA and those 'shared values' we keep hearing about?

All gone into the sewer, swimming in shit-and-blood smeared dollars.

PGA’s ‘merger’ with LIV can’t be seen as anything other than a Saudi victory | Golf | The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/jun/06/pgas-merger-with-liv-cant-be-seen-as-anything-other-than-a-saudi-victory)Pink Floyd was absolutely right,when they said money is the root of all evil. And PGA Commissioner Jay Monohan explanation is hypothetical and disingenuous.

[Stavros]

The Senate reaction-

Washington threatens to disrupt PGA Tour’s merger with Saudi-funded LIV Golf | PGA Tour | The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/jun/15/pga-tours-controversial-merger-with-saudi-funded-liv-golf-faces-new-threat)

[holzz]

Sport is entertinament.

there is no big global sport that isn't money-driven, as an entertainment concern.

Football/soccer, tennis, F1, golf, cricket, etc. all are. The big American sports are.

Big money sports won't stop, and shouldn't stop. It's only a threat unless there is bad governance in sports. People won't stop liking sports, so it just needs to manage itself properly.

[holzz]

Do these Congresspeople/Senators complain about mega-money NBA or NFL deals? why not? it's the same thing.
I doubt this would kill golf. it makes golf like all other major world sports.
Golf though by design takes up land that can better be used for housing or agriculture but that's by the by.

[filghy2]

Big money sports won't stop, and shouldn't stop. It's only a threat unless there is bad governance in sports. People won't stop liking sports, so it just needs to manage itself properly.

We already have many examples of sports governance being corrupted by money - FIFA being a prime example. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_FIFA_corruption_case

When people pay big money to sponsor sports they are doing it to advance their own interests, not for the good of the game. That creates an inherent tendency for conflicts of interest. It's bad enough when the money is coming from commercial interests (eg sponsorship by betting companies). It's even worse when there are political motives involved.

[Stavros]

There is also the joke that was made I think when Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea Football Club: 'What's the easier way to become a Millionaire? Start out a Billionaire, then buy a Premier League football club'. Even those clubs that make an annual profit, and there aren't that many, the profit is peanuts compared to the wealth of the owner(s). It was said at the time that the Glazer family bought Manchester United FC not out of any love of English 'soccer' but for the sum they were forking out, MU would give them the equivalent in profits of the debt they owed in the US. In other words, all those supporting the club with their money, and the sponsors, the TV people and so on, were financing the Glazer's debt.

Saudi PIF may not be in debt, but it sure as Hell doesn't need the revenues from Golf to survive. It is a blatant attempt by the head-chopping monster of the Kingdom of 9/11 to lube the arses of the sporting world, in readiness for his fists.

[Stavros]

Will he or won't he? Too much at stake, unless he can weasel his way out of 'difficult' questions.

US Senate asks governor of Saudi wealth fund to testify over LIV-PGA merger | US Senate | The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/21/us-senate-saudi-yasir-al-rumayyan-pga-golf)

[Stavros]

How much is a footballer/soccer player worth?

If Saudi Arabia can afford this for one player it doesn’t just make football finances and the concept of ‘fair play’ meaningless, it begs the question what will they pay to rebuild the Yemen, where they have participated in a refugee crisis on their border, destroyed homes and people’s lives? Or maybe they value Kylian Mbappe more than a million children in Yemen- or their own country?

“How much will Mbappe earn per second?
Starting with the annual wage of €700m - a figure that would make Mbappe the highest-earning footballer in the world by a comfortable distance. When broken down fully here is how much he would earn:


€700m per year
€58.33m per month
€1.9m a day
€79,900 an hour
€1,332 a minute
€22 per second“.
https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/kylian-mbappe-saudi-arabia-transfer-money-b2381354.html

[rodinuk]

How much is a footballer/soccer player worth?…
the answer is whatever price the market will bear.

Sport is its own goldfish bowl, morality isn’t one of the building bricks it’s more of a later day value-add…

[Stavros]

the answer is whatever price the market will bear.

Sport is its own goldfish bowl, morality isn’t one of the building bricks it’s more of a later day value-add…

Yes, but what sort of a market is it when one fund in one country has vastly more sums than any other country, company or individual? Was there not supposed to be a Financial Fair Play regime to regulate such matters?

[Stavros]

What happens when you 'take coals to Newcastle'? A loss on the field, a stadium barely a third full, shame all round.

I mean to say, Newcastle!

Saudi Arabia’s big night out in Newcastle spoiled by Costa Rica | Saudi Arabia | The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/sep/08/saudi-arabias-big-night-out-in-newcastle-spoiled-by-costa-rica)

[Stavros]

FIFA has never been the world's most virtuous organization, so it's announcement that the World Cup in 2030 will be played across the world is not a case of them 'sharing the love' but 'sharing the money' only the few people who profit it from it won't much care about the game,

What lunatic idea puts opening games in Uruguay because it hosted the first World Cup in 1930, in which 13 teams participated, most of them from the region, so hardly representative of the World?

Even more worrying, if not surprising, is that Saudi Arabia is bidding for the tournament in 2034, and we all know why.

Whatever else this is, corruption at the summit of World Football continues to determine the fate of its competitions. Pity some decent states, if there are any, cannot break away and form a rival organization, or someone with a real love of the game take over FIFA.

World Cup 2030 to be hosted in Spain, Portugal, Morocco … and South America | World Cup 2030 | The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/oct/04/world-cup-2030-to-be-hosted-in-spain-portugal-morocco-and-south-america)

[Stavros]

Saudi Arabia gets the World Cup in 2034 because nobody else bothered to compete, apply or dare to dream? Is this a case of 'Follow the Money', or 'Swallow the Money', which seems to be what Infantino does, and he must have a cast iron stomach if he doesn't get indigestion from it all.

Australia were in with a good shout, so why did they capitulate? But when did FIFA ever earn gold stars for decency? Blatter !! is alive and well, and destroying FIFA's credibility.

[Stavros]

Two tales of greed and immorality, with Football somewhere in the background, along with the young players promised the road to glory who ended up in...Limassol -sorry, Cyprus, but people know who know.

Everton in breach of Financial Fair Play rules, docked ten points, now close to bottom of the Premier League, with law suits potentially bankrupting the club and ending its once illustrious, if briefly so, record in the top tier of football.

As for Abramovich and Zahavi -the days when a scout on behalf of a club offered a young man ten quid a week to sign for City or United or Rovers has gone, careers are made and un-made via offshore bank accounts, shell companies, third party collusions, and on and on it goes.

Everton deducted 10 points by Premier League over financial fair play breach | Everton | The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/nov/17/everton-deducted-10-points-premier-league-guilty-financial-fair-play-breach)

Revealed: Abramovich, the super-agent and the footballers owned as ‘commodities’ | Roman Abramovich | The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/18/revealed-abramovich-the-super-agent-and-the-footballers-owned-as-commodities)

[Stavros]

Now its Snooker, and golden bollocks...

Saudi Arabia snooker event to feature 20-point golden ball and possible 167 break (yahoo.com) (https://uk.news.yahoo.com/saudi-arabia-snooker-event-feature-085623756.html)

[Stavros]

So it is not just about Money, but a 'reputation' issue...imagine, in Saudi Arabia!


Saudi Arabia officials make jail threat to US bankers over golf merger, inquiry hears (msn.com) (https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/saudi-arabia-officials-make-jail-threat-to-us-bankers-over-golf-merger-inquiry-hears/ar-BB1hWz2N?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=ACTS&cvid=7cf9a2b89aa24421dcc0b3a8d738ae0c&ei=77)

[Stavros]

This article looks at the problem UEFA has with the number of clubs owned by the same people. They may try to keep them apart but it could be possible for the owners of one club to own another in the final of a major competition, reaping the financial benefits.

It turns out the definition of a football club is no longer simple: does it represent a place, or a brand?

Fifa and Uefa facing potentially unfixable problem over multi-club ownership | The Independent (https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/uefa-fifa-multi-club-ownership-models-b2500113.html)

[Stavros]

Coming to a sports venue near you soon? Abu Dhabi but not Augusta, Georgia....Whiplash!

Saudi football player whipped by fan after Super Cup final defeat | Sport | Independent TV (https://www.independent.co.uk/tv/sport/saudi-super-cup-final-player-whipped-al-ittihad-b2527620.html)

[Stavros]

It must be bad if the Telegraph attacks LIV. Money great, outcome poor. They need the rising stars not the fallen.

Not even Greg Norman’s hysterical hubris can hide LIV’s collapse into periphery (msn.com) (https://www.msn.com/en-gb/sport/golf/not-even-greg-norman-s-hysterical-hubris-can-hide-liv-s-collapse-into-periphery/ar-BB1lC14i?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=EDGEESS&cvid=5ea74ea5d19547c3dcdc048ed30eb320&ei=105)

[Stavros]

The art of Snooker is in the ability to pot balls, but also to leave the white and a colour in a position that the opponent cannot play directly, potentially (because there are some amazing players in the game) or actually leading to a foul stroke and an advantage to the other.

Or the art of Snooker could be re-defined by the amount of money on and off the table, as, yet again, the Champions of Freedom in...er...Saudi Arabia bid to rescue Snooker from the decrepit and tiny (if atmospheric) Crucible Theatre in Sheffield and re-locate the biggest tournaments, and new ones, to Riyadh, that gorgeous desert town on everyone's bucket list. Once there was the Crucible, coming next from MbS, the Runcible.

In addition to the fabulous prize money, accessible by the ageing cohort of snooker players who mostly don't speak Mandarin, or Arabic for that matter, there will be a 'Golden Ball', because clearing the table for a maximum 147 is no longer going to be the Summit of Achievement. You get to that summit, only to find a golden ball on the table with an extra 20 points.

Trust the Saudis to, as it were, 'top that', as in Snooker, given they already top felons every week in public. Oh, and if there are any female referees in the sport they won't be welcome in Riyadh, that includes the much respected Desislava Vasileva Bozhilova, who presumably won't be invited because they can't pronounce her name, not even when translated into Arabic. Just say 'min asaf, Binti, only men allowed'.

So the Crucible has room for 950 spectators, but while the tv audience worldwide is numbered in millions, Barry Hearn and his Once We Were Bedouin buddies has visions, defined by superstar millionaire Ronnie O'Sullivan-

"“I think Saudi Arabia could get hold of this tournament, grab it by the scruff of the neck and turn it into a Wimbledon or a French Open or US Open, and really make it a super event,” ".
World Snooker Championship: Saudi shadow looms large over Crucible | World Snooker Championship | The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/apr/19/world-snooker-championship-saudi-arabia-shadow-looms-crucible-ronnie-osullivan)

Oh dear, Ronnie. Where was the largest audience for a snooker match of world class? Yep, you guessed it, Hong Kong -9,000 for the Hong Kong Masters in 2022.
2022 Hong Kong Masters - Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Hong_Kong_Masters)

Here's a thought: Maybe the Brothers Hearn can match up MbS with the People's Xi and rain, or piss money onto a sport that has more followers in China than there are camels in the Empty Quarter.

Coz it's all about the money, innit?

[Stavros]

And Tennis too

"Along with the WTA Finals, Saudi Arabia has already been awarded the Next Gen ATP Finals, the season-ending event for the best under-21 players in the world, while making very clear its ambition to stage a Masters 1,000."
Tennis: ATP, WTA & Grand Slams and in Premium Tour talks but what role will Saudi Arabia play? - BBC Sport (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/articles/c4n1kjgze1ko)

[Stavros]

Is this about football or money?

"FIFA moved Wednesday (https://inside.fifa.com/about-fifa/organisation/fifa-council/news/fifa-council-appoints-working-group-to-recommend-potential-rule-changes) toward ending decades of soccer tradition by reviewing the rules that currently block domestic league games being played in other countries.Fans are likely to object to their teams' home matches potentially being moved thousands of miles (kilometers) away.
The United States and Saudi Arabia are expected to be willing hosts to lure competitive games from top European countries, and FIFA recently agreed to withdraw from an ongoing court case (https://apnews.com/article/fifa-us-soccer-promoter-lawsuit-820effc404fc6cb0a4534acdf2fc9ebb) in New York filed by promoter Relevent to challenge the policy.
The new FIFA policy will likely be attractive to the growing number of international owners of European clubs, including the wave of U.S. investors in the English Premier League, Italy’s Serie A and France’s Ligue 1, and state-backed teams like Abu Dhabi-owned Manchester City, Qatar-owned Paris Saint-Germain and Saudi-owned Newcastle.
FIFA is now creating a panel of 10-15 people representing soccer stakeholders to advise within months on amending the rules on so-called “out-of-territory” games. The rules (https://digitalhub.fifa.com/m/428d57940518eef/original/p0ppt4a5mrbb0zmvbl1g-pdf.pdf) were last amended in 2014."
FIFA moves toward ending soccer tradition and letting league games be staged in other countries (spectrumnews1.com) (https://spectrumnews1.com/mo/st-louis/ap-top-news/2024/05/15/fifa-moves-toward-ending-soccer-tradition-and-letting-league-games-be-staged-in-other-countries)

So a Premier League game between Manchester City and Manchester United could be played in Dubai?
Or Newcastle play against Arsenal in Riyadh?
Coventry could play Burnley in Munich, innit?

Follow the money, as usual. As for the fans -they will pay, won't they? Or just watch it on pay-per-view telly.

[Stavros]

And for all Barney's ire, no surprises, only sighs

"We are at least approaching a decisive crossroads on this journey. Fifa is due to announce the winning bids for the 2030 and 2034 World Cups live from Zurich on 11 December via an “extraordinary virtual congress”, which certainly sounds like an exciting kind of congress.In reality this process is extraordinary in one specific sense. The candidates to stage the 2034 edition of the grandest and most lucrative entertainment event on the planet line up as follows. Favourites: Saudi Arabia (https://www.theguardian.com/world/saudiarabia). Shortlisted: Saudi Arabia. Dark horses: Saudi Arabia. Chief sponsor of Fifa: Saudi Arabia. Only bid not eliminated by a gathering sense of inevitability: Saudi Arabia."
Saudi Arabia’s World Cup: how close could Fifa get to corporate manslaughter? | Fifa | The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/football/2024/nov/15/saudi-arabias-world-cup-how-close-could-fifa-get-to-corporate-manslaughter)