Right questions but to the wrong people in Saudi golf dispute
THE world’s top golfers should not need to defend their moral stance over taking money from Saudi Arabia as part of a new global tour.
The defections of Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson & Co have provided a huge talking point as the game was caught up in an almighty ruck.
For golf, it seems the only way is ethics.
Only it’s not – or it shouldn’t be – it’s for others to decide.
To many, myself included, the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by the Saudi state was abhorrent.
Massacre
Laws that criminalise homosexuality fall into the same bracket.
It is not the way I would want any government I lived under to operate.
But let’s have it right. Who are we to pick and choose what’s acceptable to fit our narrow criteria of how others should live their lives?
For instance, does Rory Mcilroy have to mount an argument defending America’s gun laws because he plays on the PGA tour?
As haunting images of kids with smiling faces are broadcast on our screens after they’ve become victims of the latest maniacal massacre, there are surely questions to answer if we are heading into the same moral maze.
Only they never are.
If Mcilroy has been quizzed, I haven’t heard his response.
Ambulance
Nor from fellow Brit Justin Rose, who lives over the Pond.
And are we so arrogant to believe we live in a social utopia? That we have the answers to everything?
The last time I looked, there’s still bitterness festering over Brexit, issues with homelessness, and immigration. The NHS and social services are creaking at the seams.
Anecdotally, a friend’s elderly mum broke her hip and lay at the foot of her stairs for five hours before an ambulance reached her.
Five hours. Five hours in excruciating pain. All this in a supposedly civilised and compassionate society.
We don’t have all the answers.
And I know that doesn’t compare to state execution – far from it – but our leaders, on our behalf, have made a decision to deal with Saudi Arabia.
They can live with the mores of the Middle East.
They understand the strict nature of that Islamic state. Had it been deemed a pariah among the international community, then this argument would take on a whole new dimension.
So our politicians are the ones who hold the answers to this – not the players.
The only gripe I have with those who have opted to trouser the riches are the fantastic excuses that they have quit for anything other than shameless greed.
Mickelson doesn’t need the cash. His career earnings are 800 million dollars.
There will forever be food on the table in his household.
Insult
Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter (above, left) aren’t in the same financial bracket.
But to suggest their families need looking after is an insult to everyone dealing with rocketing fuel costs and rising energy and food bills. So, is this sport-washing? Absolutely.
Are the game’s top players risking their reputations by joining this new monied elite?
Yes, they are.
But they earn money playing golf. And they’re doing it at the behest of the highest bidder.
And expecting them to justify their actions in the context of a vexed international landscape isn’t fair.
This week, all the right questions were asked – but not of the right people.