LIV Players Face Criticism from 9/11 Survivors Group: ‘When You Partner with the Saudis, You Become Complicit with Their Whitewash’

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It turns out that Jay Monahan and the rest of the PGA TOUR aren’t the only ones upset with the pro golfers who have agreed to participate in LIV Golf events. A 9/11 survivors group has also publicly criticized them for accepting tremendous sums of money from LIV, which is funded by Saudi Arabia.

On Friday, 911families.org issued a statement that accuses players of, among other things, helping the Saudi Kingdom “whitewash their reputation” after their involvement in the attacks on 9/11.

“As you may know, Osama bin Laden and 15 of the 19 September 11 hijackers were Saudis,” the statement reads in part. “It was the Saudis who cultivated and spread the evil, hate-filled Islamist ideology that inspired the violent jihadists to carry out the deadly 9/11 attacks. And, most egregiously, it is the Kingdom that has spent 20 years in denial: lying about their activities, and cowardly dodging the responsibility they bear. Yet these are your partners, and much to our disappointment, you appear pleased to be in business with them.

“Given Saudi Arabia’s role in the death of our loved ones and those injured on 9/11—your fellow Americans—we are angered that you are so willing to help the Saudis cover up this history in their request for ‘respectability.’ When you partner with the Saudis, you become complicit with their whitewash, and help give them the reputational cover they so desperately crave—and are willing to pay handsomely to manufacture.”

So far, the PGA TOUR has suspended 17 players — including Kevin Na, Phil Mickelson, and Dustin Johnson — for joining forces with LIV. However, other players are expected to follow suit.

9/11LIVPGA Tour

Written by Cortney Weil

Cortney Weil has a PhD in Shakespearean drama but now spends her days reading and writing about her first passion: sports. She loves God, her husband, and all things Michigan State.

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    • The US does import about 500,000 bbls of oil/day from Saudi. However, the US exports about 3million bbl/day, so, I may OR may not be buying some of their oil. That is quite different from taking hundreds of millions of dollars in payments from them.

      William, 2 recent quotes, from you, below:
      “I didn’t even know the Chinese Communist Party Basketball Association was still playing.”
      “Don’t give a damn about anything the Chinese agent Steve Kerr thinks or says.”
      You bash the nba and its personnel for its ties to china but condone, and try to justify, golfers’ ties to the saud regime? I see.

  3. Yeah I kinda see both sides of this one don’t really follow PGA or golf in general too closely but if its about the cheddar these guys are already multi millionaires many times over so I would’nt think its just about the dough maybe something deeper within the org

  4. Let’s see if they say anything about Biden officially resetting relations with the Saudi’s. I bet they don’t. They’re just another liberal org doing the PGA Tour’s bidding. i am open to changing my mind but I bet they won’t say a peep about Biden.

    I am not a big fan of the Saudis, but the US never did a thing to the Saudis. Not one thing, and I’ve never heard this group say anything.

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