Shark brushes off grilling
GREG Norman attempted to brush off questions about the murder of the dissident Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi by saying “we’ve all made mistakes”.
The Australian former golfer, 67, was speaking as he laid out plans for the $US255m ($368m) Saudi-backed LIV Golf Invitational Series, which is bankrolled by the country’s sovereign wealth fund, the PIF.
However, many of the questions during a media day at Centurion Club near St Albans
in England, where the first event of the series will take place, centred on sports washing and human rights, including the 2018 murder and dismemberment of Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
Norman, the frontman for the series, said: “Everybody has owned up to it, right? It has been spoken about, from what I’ve read. Take ownership, no matter what it is. Look, we’ve all made mistakes and you want to learn from those and how you can correct them.”
A UN special rapporteur and the CIA have claimed that Mohammed bin Salman, the Saudi crown prince and PIF chairman, sanctioned the killing. Bin Salman has denied the allegation but accepted “full responsibility” as the leader of his country.
Norman, who said he had never met Bin Salman, was also asked how he felt about the execution of 81 men in Saudi Arabia on March 12.
“I got a lot of messages but, quite honestly, I look forward,” he said. “I don’t look into the politics of things. I’m not going to get into the quagmire of whatever else happens in someone else’s world.”
Amnesty International issued a statement last week after Lee Westwood, one of those to seek a release for the first Saudi event next month, said golf was his job and he did it for money.
“We would urge all golfers tempted to play in Saudi-bankrolled tournaments to consider how sportswashing works and how they might break its spell,” a spokesman said.
Norman said LIV Golf had injunctions “ready to go” if the PGA and DP World Tours tried to ban players after denying them releases. He claimed he would have no problem if players who joined his series spoke out about human rights.
“Every player is entitled to their opinion and their voice,” the two-times Open champion said. “This whole thing about Saudi Arabia and Khashoggi and human rights – talk about it, but also talk about the good the country is doing to change its culture.”
The main tours are refusing to release players for the first Saudi-based tournament, from June 9 to June 11.
Westwood, Sergio Garcia, Phil Mickelson and another 16 of the top 100 players have applied to play.