Pro golfers are facing a public backlash for signing on to the LIV Golf tournament, bankrolled by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund. But, as The Detail finds out, using sport to repair a wonky international reputation isn't entirely new.
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Phil Mickelson is signed up to play in the Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf tournament. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
In his 1992 memoir about life as a football fan, British author Nick Hornby describes a moment that will resonate with many sports fans: "I had discovered…that loyalty, at least in football terms, was not a moral choice like bravery or kindness; it was more like a wart or a hump, something you were stuck with."
And over the past few years, the loyalty of many fans has been tested – and won out – over serious misgivings around 'sportswashing': countries and corporations using sport as a vehicle to launder their images.
Examples of sportswashing are easy to find: from the 1936 Berlin Olympics to Saudi Arabia buying Newcastle FC; from the Benson & Hedges World Series to the Heineken Cup, via the All Blacks accepting sponsorship money from petrochemical giant Ineos.
And, commencing just a few weeks ago, another notch in the belt, with the rise of LIV Golf.
It hasn't managed to attract a television broadcaster, and players who signed on to join LIV Golf were threatened with excommunication from the dominant PGA Tour, but LIV had an ace up its sleeve - bottomless pits of cash.
The new, eight-tournament competition is financially backed by the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund, which is administered by the country's de factor ruler, Mohammed Bin Salmad.
The big names who've joined the tour have earned hundreds of millions of dollars by just signing on – more than even the most successful golfer, Tiger Woods, has earned in prize money throughout his entire career.
But in doing so, these sportspeople have opened themselves up to criticism: that they were willingly selling their skillset to help clean up the blood-soaked reputation of a country which murdered a Saudi journalist while he was visiting a Saudi embassy in Turkey; where women cannot own property, and where men can be imprisoned, or even executed, for homosexual activity.
"They're scary motherfuckers to get involved with," said Phil Mickelson, a golfer who was paid $200 million – more than double his career earnings – just for joining LIV Golf.
"We know they killed [Washington Post reporter and U.S. resident Jamal] Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights. They execute people over there for being gay. Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it? Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates."
Former Sunday Star-Times sports editor Michael Donaldson, who's authored several books on golf, says while there are valid concerns to be raised about the Saudi Arabian government, there are also elements of hypocrisy on the part of critics, who overlook the fact that many big sports sponsors like Nike, McDonalds, and alcohol companies can be viably accused of committing crimes or moral violations.
He says many sports events have been held in Saudi Arabia with little to no criticism from observers, and speculates that the PGA Tour is encouraging moral criticism of the upstart tournament because it doesn't like its grip on power being threatened.
"The whole pressure on these players is around, you're taking this money from this awful regime that murdered [Khashoggi]. So the pressure is coming around this moral, ethical thing around Saudi Arabian money. Which, to me, is just a red herring.
"I think it's the only card the PGA Tour has to play, is to discredit these people on a reputational level.
"The ethical thing? Until you're in that position, I don’t think you can judge people. And if you're the players who're taking the money, it's that same old thing: everyone has their price."
But Stuff senior sports reporter Dana Johannsen says corporations and countries with questionable human rights pumping cash into sport to launder their reputations is a serious issue – one which is tarnishing the image of sport itself, and potentially driving away other sponsors.
"Personally, I find it really concerning.
"The further you go along, the more responsible corporates and brands you might want to be aligned with are going to be turned off to the idea of sport.
"We’re already seeing a shift in the sponsorship market by these responsible corporates: sport isn’t so much seen to be representing these pure ideals anymore.
"Brands are starting to go, hey, maybe we want to look at more social and environmental causes that we can invest in so that we look more socially responsible."
But Johannsen acknowledges the power of investing in sport is its tribal nature: as Nick Hornby said, sporting loyalties run deep, and fans will show remarkable levels of cognitive dissonance to overlook moral shortcomings, so long as it benefits their team.
"The fans are embracing it. They're thinking, we're suddenly flush with cash, and that means titles and trophies.
"So it's easy to excuse it in that sense, because when you love your team, it's like, OK, this is good, we've got money, let's go."
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Photo: Newsroom/RNZ