Norman criticized for downplaying Saudi killing

Golf legend Greg Norman once again is drawing criticism over his defense of the Saudi Arabian government, which is pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into the LIV Golf Invitational Series, a competitor to the PGA Tour that will be begin next month with a tournament in England, writes Matt Bonesteel of The Washington Post.

Speaking in London on Wednesday during an event to promote the new circuit, Norman called the 2018 assassination of Washington Post columnist and Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi a “mistake” and a learning experience for the Saudi government.

“Look, we’ve all made mistakes and you just want to learn by those mistakes and how you can correct them going forward,” said Norman, LIV Golf’s chief executive.

One month after Khashoggi’s disappearance in 2018, the Central Intelligence Agency concluded that Saudi Crown Prince bin Salman had ordered the journalist’s assassination. Khashoggi, who had written critical articles about Mohammed, disappeared in October 2018 after going to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul to pick up documents that he needed for his planned marriage to Hatice Cengiz, a Turkish woman. His body has never been found.

“I haven’t had a personal conversation with MBS, I’ve never met the guy, but at the same time I do read that the Saudi government has made their statements and comments about it and they want to move forward,” Norman said.

On Thursday, Cengiz called Norman’s statement’s “hurtful.”

“Would you say that if it was your loved one? How can we go forward when those who ordered the murder are still unpunished, and continue to try to buy back their legitimacy?” Cengiz said in a statement. “We should not fall for their wealth and lies, and lose our morals and common humanity. We should all be insisting on the truth and justice; only then can we look forward with hope and dignity.”