The topic Mr Al-Rumayyan appears to be avoiding is the fund’s attempt to control professional golf, via a partnership between the PGA Tour and the Saudi-backed LIV Golf organization. The deal raises questions not only about “sportswashing” aimed at distracting from state human rights atrocities, but also about the extent to which the Saudis are using oil profits from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to control more elements of American culture. Mr. Blumenthal and his colleagues should persist in asking these questions.
The senator wants to hear directly from Mr. Al-Rumayyan about the role he intends to play in American golf and how that fits with the fund’s broader investment objectives in the United States. Mr. Blumenthal also requests a list of all U.S. assets currently held by the Saudi fund; all U.S.-based contractors, consultants, public relations firms, strategic consultants, crisis consultants, lobbyists, and law firms who worked for the fund; and all documents relating to Project Wedge, the code name for what became LIV Golf.
This project was as political as it was economic, born out of an effort to improve Saudi Arabia’s reputation following the 2018 state sponsored assassination by Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi by a squad of agents who traveled to Istanbul, where Khashoggi was, with a bone saw aboard two private jets belonging to Mr. Al-Rumayyan’s fund.
Saudi Arabia has spent at least $6.3 billion on sports deals since 2021, according to the Guardian, more than the gross domestic product of Barbados or Montenegro. The fund bought the Newcastle United soccer team for $391 million, and a Saudi soccer team signed Cristiano Ronaldo for $200 million a year. This does not include Aramco’s sponsorships in Formula One or significant Saudi investments in video game makers, including Activision Blizzard and Electronic Arts, or Live Nation Entertainment, owner of Ticketmaster.
LIV Golf has shown generosity to American politicians willing to partner with the organization. It will hold its final event of this season in October, offering a $50 million purse, at former President Donald Trump’s Doral course in Florida. The Greenbrier resort owned by West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R), a candidate for U.S. Senate, will host an LIV golf tournament in August.
In response to this sportswashing campaign, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) introduced bills that would revoke a tax exemption for the PGA Tour and end a tax break used by the fund. Saudi. The PGA Tour is registered as a 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization, the same part of the code used by chambers of commerce. Major League Baseball gave up that designation in 2007, and the National Football League gave it up in 2015. Mr. Wyden’s bill would prevent sports organizations from claiming nonprofit status if the value of their assets exceeds $500 million.
Current law also exempts sovereign wealth funds from a 30% withholding tax on payments such as dividends and interest. The Saudis can use this to maximize tax-free profits from the PGA Tour deal. Mr. Wyden’s legislation would deny the benefit of withholding to countries with more than $100 billion invested globally unless they have a free trade agreement or tax treaty with the United States. and that they are not considered countries of concern by the Department of State. The measure is written to target Saudi Arabia and Qatar, as well as Russia and China.
In other words, there are many reasons for Congress to consider the political implications of Saudi Arabia’s actions, as well as their moral implications, and for Senate investigators to continue pursuing Mr. Al-Rumayyan, apparently suffering from a permanent indisposition.
Meanwhile, in the latest reminder of President Biden’s failure to deliver on his campaign promise to treat Saudi Arabia as a “pariah,” National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan traveled to the country on Thursday to meet the crown prince. Fortunately, members of Congress are pushing harder against Saudi influence.
