PGA Tour can sue Saudi Arabia's $600bn sovereign wealth fund, judge rules
The PGA Tour is able to directly sue Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund and its governor Yasir al-Rumayyan, a US District judge ruled late on Tuesday, adding a new layer to the legal spat between LIV golf and the PGA Tour.
US District Judge Beth Labson Freeman in San Jose, California, said the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Rumayyan could be added as defendants to a case that alleges the Saudi-backed league tempted PGA players to breach their contracts with multimillion-dollar offerings damaging the US league.
Last week a US federal judge dismissed PIF and Rumayyan’s bid for sovereign immunity, forcing them to turn over information connected to the case and appear for deposition.
The judge said new information about the PIF’s involvement in the Saudi-backed league allowed them to add new parties to the case.
”It is plain that PIF is not a mere investor in LIV; it is the moving force behind the founding, funding, oversight, and operation of LIV," Magistrate Judge Susan van Keulen wrote in a decision last week, rejecting the PIF’s claim to sovereign immunity.
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"PIF's actions are indisputably the type of actions by which a private party engages in trade and traffic or commerce," she added.
The LIV and PGA have been engaged in a legal battle since last summer after a number of key golf stars defected to the Saudi-backed league and were subsequently barred from PGA events.
In August, several players and LIV Golf sued the PGA Tour on anti-trust grounds. The PGA responded with its own lawsuit against the Saudi-backed league. Tuesday’s ruling marks a watershed moment in the legal drama because it brings the Saudi investment fund directly into the case.
Saudi Arabia's $600bn sovereign wealth fund is chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The ruling has the potential to open up the inner workings of the fund in US court.
The PIF has emerged as the main vehicle for the prince's attempts to overhaul the kingdom's oil-dependent economy.
Besides backing LIV, the fund acquired the English Premier League football club, Newcastle United FC, in 2021 and also considered buying Formula 1 motor racing last year.
Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman has sought to boost the kingdom's holdings in sports and entertainment. While he has pushed through sweeping social reforms, he has also overseen a crackdown on dissent. And critics have accused Saudi Arabia of engaging in "sportswashing" to cover up its human rights record.
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