How Far Would You Go – Part 1: Sportswashing
Per sportsnaut.com, There is a war going on between the PGA Tour, the main organizer of the professional golf tour, and the upstart LIV Golf, which is financed by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia — a department in the Saudi government. (LIV) has signed top competitors like Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, Dustin Johnson, and Bryson DeChambeau by offering up huge sums of guaranteed money.
Unlike the PGA Tour, there are no cuts, fewer events, and over $250 million dollars set to be dealt out for LIV Golf’s first eight events. That is separate from the reported signing bonus received by top stars like Johnson and Mickelson.
Sounds like a good gig for DJ and Phil, huh? For clarification, Phil Mickelson is the 2nd all-time career PGA earner (after Tiger) with $92 million in tournament winnings in his now 4-decade spanning PGA career. Phil’s LIV contract is a guaranteed $200 million – more than doubling his 30+ year PGA tournament earnings.
Bob Costa, famous sports caster in an interview on CNN adds more, “Guaranteed money. $200 million dollars for Phil Mickelson even if he never wins a tournament. The prize money’s on top of that. $115 million, as I understand it, for Dustin Johnson. But what’s the price for your soul?” Costas asked. “What’s the price for integrity? This is a clear-cut matter of morality.” (Bold is mine.)
Whoa big Bob – how did morality and integrity enter the conversation? The answer is wrapped up in the term – Sportswashing. Huh?
Per Wikipedia.com, Sportswashing is the practice of an individual, group, corporation, or government using sport to improve their tarnished reputation, through hosting a sporting event, the purchase or sponsorship of sporting teams, or by participation in the sport itself.
(Bolding is mine.)
It is common knowledge that pro golfers, including Mickelson and Greg “The Shark” Norman, have been trying to add a competitive Tour that rewards a higher percentage of the revenue to the players – that is not the issue at hand. The dicey part is that LIV is financed by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia — a department in the Saudi government (inserted from above).
Saudi Arabia one of the world’s worst abusers of human rights, according to index on www.middleeasteye.com includes the following:
· Saudi Arabia is one the most disempowering and unsafe countries from state abuse…
· Saudi Arabia scored 2.4 out of 10 on overall safety from the state…
· This was a result of a poor record on torture, execution, extrajudicial killing, disappearance, arbitrary arrest, and the death penalty…
Thus, Saudi Arabia’s need for sportswashing –the practice of an individual, group, corporation, or government using sport to improve their tarnished reputation.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), in their article, Phil Mickelson and the Bleak Truth of ‘Sportswashing,’ brings it all together. In case you missed it: Mickelson was quoted by the longtime golf writer Alan Shipnuck—who has a book on Mickelson coming soon—as acknowledging the Saudi regime’s “horrible record on human rights,” citing its treatment of gay people and its implicated involvement in the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
“Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it?” Shipnuck quoted Mickelson asking. “Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates.” Mickelson criticized the PGA Tour as a “dictatorship” of its own.
In other words, Phil was aware of Saudi Arabia’s horrible record on human rights and decided to accept this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity…
WSJ continues, “Mickelson’s offense was, as the expression goes, saying the quiet part out loud,” Jennifer Rubin wrote in the Washington Post the other day. “Shamelessness is widespread these days.”
The question for you – How far would you go? What’s YOUR price for integrity?