Saudi Arabia has taken another bold step to expand its influence over world sport by securing a deal that guarantees the gulf state a decisive role in the future of elite golf.
The Saudi-backed LIV Golf series, launched in 2021 as a rival to the established tours, is merging with the PGA and DP World Tours to create a new vehicle which will manage the commercial interests of the sport.
The agreement ends a year-long battle between LIV and its predecessors over control of the industry, after star players defected to the breakaway tour for unprecedented payouts.
It comes after the Saudi takeover of Newcastle United in 2021, one of England’s biggest football clubs, forming part of a clear state strategy to invest heavily in sport.
Critics of the gulf nation say it is attempting to gain legitimacy by embedding itself in a global market, effectively laundering its reputation by detracting from a long history of human rights abuses – a practice known as “sportswashing”.
Here’s an overview of Saudi Arabia’s growing sporting empire:
LIV Golf, the PGA Tour and DP World Tour announced an agreement to merge commercial operations under common ownership on Tuesday.
In the view of some observers, the deal is less of a merger and more a takeover of the whole sport by Saudi Arabia at the elite level.
The governor of Saudi Arbia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), Yasir Al Rumayyan – who is also the chairman of Newcastle and oversees LIV – will be the golfing body’s chairman.
PIF is controlled by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler since 2015. With estimated assets worth £514bn, it is one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds, however Saudi leaders have said the fund is not controlled by the state.
PIF will initially be the exclusive investor for the new entity, injecting an expected $3bn (£2.4bn), and will have the exclusive right to provide further investment. It will also have a first refusal on any other capital to be invested.
While Al Rumayyan will lead the board of directors, the PGA will appoint the majority of the board and hold a majority voting interest, giving it effective control.
However, PIF’s exclusive veto on future funding means it is likely to demand additional board seats and voting rights in return for investment, which suggests Saudi control is only likely to consolidate.
Saudi financing was believed to be behind plans back in 2018 to expand the Fifa Club World Cup, and while those plans were abandoned, Saudi influence has grown steadily since.
The purchase of an 80 per cent stake in Newcastle in 2021 by the PIF after a protracted takeover remains the most significant Saudi interest in the sport from a UK perspective.
In October 2022, one year after the takeover, Newcastle topped the Premier League net spend table for the previous year, spending more than £220m on transfers.
The club achieved its highest league finish since 2002/03 last season, qualifying for the lucrative UEFA Champions League for the first time in 20 years.
Saudi Arabia is also investing heavily to attract some of the sport’s top stars to its Pro League.
Cristiano Ronaldo joined Al Nassr in a two-year deal worth an estimated £173m a year in January.
His former Real Madrid team-mate Karim Benzema completed a three-year deal with Al Ittihad worth £258m on Tuesday.
Lionel Messi already acts as a tourism ambassador for the gulf nation, an arrangement that reportedly earns him £25m a year.
Al Nassr and Al Ittihad, along with Al Hilal and Al Ahli, look set to be majority-owned by the PIF which announced its intention to buy 75 per cent shares in each on Monday.
Saudi Arabia intends to transform its Pro League into one of the world’s premier domestic competitions, and is set to keep adding star names to boost its profile and ability to generate revenue.
Benzema is set to feature for Al Ittihad at December’s Club World Cup in Saudi Arabia, a tournament which will feature Manchester City if they beat Inter Milan in Saturday’s Champions League final.
Saudi Arabia is also reported to be providing the financing for a new Super League in Africa.
Reports have also suggested Saudi Arabia is arranging a bid for the 2030 World Cup alongside Greece and Egypt, though a deal is far from agreed.
Saudi Arabia’s state-owned oil company Aramco is one of F1’s top-tier “global partner” sponsors, paying a reported $40m a year. Aramco is also joint title sponsor of Aston Martin Racing, one of the sport’s leading teams.
Since 2021, Saudi Arabia has staged a Grand Prix every season, ensuring its central place in the sport’s event calendar, with the most recent race taking place on 19 March this year.
Reports surfaced earlier this year that the PIF was looking to buy the Formula One World Championship, but its owner Liberty Media was unwilling to sell.
The country has become a venue of choice for promoters in recent years, with British heavyweight Anthony Joshua fighting there in 2019 and 2022.
Joshua and his opponent Oleksandr Usyk featured heavily in promotional material for the state-owned airline, Saudia, ahead of their bout last year.
The Sun reported in April that Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn was in talks over a further trip to Saudi Arabia in December, this time as part of a four-man tournament also featuring Tyson Fury, Oleksandr Usyk and Deontay Wilder.
Saudi Arabia has a well-established history in horseracing, similar to other Middle Eastern countries.
Prince Khalid Abdullah, a member of the Saudi royal family who died in 2021, was one of the leading figures in the world of thoroughbred horseracing, owning a series of competitors.
The country took a central role in the sport with the introduction of the Saudi Cup in 2020 – the richest race in the world with a $20m prize.
Aramco has also expanded Saudi influence into cricket through sponsorship deals.
In October 2022, the sport’s governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), announced a global partnership with Aramco, opening it up to new global audience.
It included Aramco sponsorship of all major men’s and women’s ICC events scheduled until the end of 2023, including the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia, the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa, the ICC World Test Championship Final in the UK, and the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 in India.
A few months before, Aramco secured a similar deal with the Indian Premier League (IPL) to be the exclusive sponsor of individual awards given to players, ensuring the company is front and centre of the world’s most popular domestic competition.
According to reports, Saudi Arabia is considering plans to launch a rival competition to the IPL, which currently bans Indian players from other tournaments worldwide to protect its leading status.
Aramco has also ventured into tennis, sponsoring the Diriyah Tennis Cup.
Launched in 2019, it was the first international tennis competition to be hosted in Saudi Arabia. Eight players on the men’s tour feature in the annual tournament, which has a prize money pool of $3m.
A deal had been done for Riyadh to stage a World Snooker Tour event in October 2020 with a £2.5m prize pot until the Covid pandemic forced it to be cancelled.
Those close to the deal have suggested it is proving difficult to revive, the Mirror reports, with bosses looking elsewhere in the region, such as the UAE, as an alternative.
Saudi Arabia is seriously considering a bid for the 2036 Olympics, according to reports.
Speaking late last year, the gulf state’s sports minister, Prince Abdulaziz Bin Turki Al Faisal, said the country is equipped to host a World Cup and Olympics within six years of each other.
“I think we now have all that it takes to host any tournament that comes our way,” he told the Telegraph.
Saudi Arabia is already set to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games at a mountain resort in the state’s £440bn flagship Neom project – a yet to be constructed smart city.
Riyadh will also host the Asian Games for the first time in 2034, having won a bid in 2020.
Saudi Arabia has been widely criticised for attempting to ‘sportswash’ its reputation on the global stage through its campaign of heavy investment.
The terms refers to the use of sport as a propaganda tool to deflect attention away from unfavourable coverage. Through attachment to sport by sponsorship or ownership, a state may be cast in a positive light, while also expanding its political and economic influence.
Human rights campaigners have accused Saudi Arabia of attempting to deflect from its woeful rights record – including the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, recent mass executions, the stifling of protest and persecution of activists, and the oppression of women and LGBT+ people.
Prince Mohammed has said he takes responsibility for the murder of Mr Khashoggi but has denied any personal involvement in approving the killing.
For its part, Saudi Arabia sees sport as a crucial part of its ‘Vision 2030’ strategy.
The country is investing heavily in many sectors as it seeks to diversify its economy away from its finite oil reserves, with sport being one of them.
Investment in sport is aimed, so those who speak for the Saudis say, at encouraging grassroots participation in sport among men and women and at creating a professional elite-level environment for Saudi athletes, national teams and clubs across all sports to thrive.
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