Jay Monahan botches PGA-LIV merger defense after 9/11 families criticize

[ad_1]

The media tour for the recently announced PGA Tour-LIV Golf merger continues to flounder as criticism of the impending unification mounts.

MORE: PGA players reportedly call for Jay Monahan’s resignation in ‘intense’ meeting

Among the most vocal critics of the yet-to-be-named golf conglomerate is 9/11 Families United, which is made up of family members of victims of terrorist attacks. The organization on Tuesday accused PGA Commissioner Jay Monahan of being hypocritical, noting that he used the September 11 terrorist attacks as the basis for a moral stance against Saudi-backed LIV Golf. before agreeing to merge the tour with the breakaway circuit.

The statement from the organization:

PGA commissioner Jay Monahan co-opted the 9/11 community last year into the PGA’s unequivocal agreement that Saudi Project LIV was nothing more than a reputational sportwash for Saudi Arabia. But now the PGA and Monahan seem to have become more paid Saudi shillings, taking billions of dollars to clean up the Saudi reputation so that Americans and the world forget how the kingdom spent its billions of dollars before 9/11 to finance the terrorism, spread their vitriolic hatred of Americans, and fund al-Qaeda and the murder of our loved ones.

Don’t get me wrong, we will never forget. Mr Monahan spoke last summer about knowing people who lost loved ones on 9/11, then wondered aloud on national television if LIV golfers ever had to apologize for being a member of the PGA Tour. They are now like him. PGA Tour executives should be ashamed of their hypocrisy and greed. Our entire 9/11 community was betrayed by Commissioner Monahan and the PGA as it seems their concern for our loved ones was just a front in their quest for money, it was never to honor the big game golf.

Last June, Monahan rhetorically asked on a CBS TV show at the RBC Canadian Open if PGA Tour players should apologize to the families of 9/11 victims for staying on the tour instead. to defect to the Saudi-backed circuit.

“As for the 9/11 families, I have two families close to me who have lost loved ones, and so my heart goes out to them and I would ask any player who left (for LIV) or any other player who’s ever considered leaving, have you ever had to apologize for being a PGA Tour member?” Monahan said.

MORE: Why Brooks Koepka called out Brandel Chamblee

On Tuesday, Monahan was asked to respond to accusations of hypocrisy. He fumbled his response, saying only that he apologized for not properly communicating with his “voters” about the PGA-LIV merger:

LIV is financially supported by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia. The Saudi government is not only accused of human rights abuses, but also of financial support for the September 11 terrorist attacks. The kingdom has always denied any involvement in the 2001 attacks, and a joint CIA-FBI filing in 2004 claimed there was no evidence to suggest there had been any.

However, more recent US government reports indicate that at least some people in the Saudi government had knowledge of and/or affiliation with the hijackers who flew planes into the World Trade Center Twin Towers and the Pentagon. and were flying a plane that eventually crashed. in rural Pennsylvania. Fifteen of the 19 hijackers were Saudi citizens.

MORE: Bryson DeChambeau defends LIV Golf’s Saudi ties

Monahan, who was reportedly called upon by PGA golfers to resign after the merger announcement, isn’t the only person to have tried to defend the impending unification. LIV golfer Bryson DeChambeau also called for “sorry” and said the decision was for the good of the golfing world.

“What happened was really awful,” DeChambeau told CNN on Tuesday. “And I think over time, 20 years have passed and now we’re at a point where it’s time to start trying to work together to make things better together.”

[ad_2]