LIV and let die: Saudi Arabia's sports washing era spectacularly implodes as strategy 'failure' hits home

As the extinction of LIV Golf draws near, Saudi Arabia's "sports washing" agenda has been forced back into the public consciousness.

And for good reason.

Sports washing is a phrase used fairly casually these days but it describes the horrific reality of using misdirection to change the perception of a nation with a track record of human rights violations.

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"It's the use of sport to try and distract from what might otherwise be considered unethical conduct," explained Justine Nolan, director of Australia's Human Rights Institute.

But why choose sport?

Because sport is a powerful and nationalistic ritual. Fans are often eager to buy into the spectacle, allowing a regime to renovate its international image by highlighting the glitz of global sports.

Meanwhile, behind the scenes the country may still be using brute force to maintain its political agenda.

"Sport's always been tied up with diplomacy and politics. It's not like sport was in its own vacuum forever but sport is one of those things that brings the world together, it promotes social cohesion," Nolan said.

"If you look at the ideals of the Olympics, it's not just about sport. It's about society and people excelling and coming together as a whole.

"It has a natural connection with politics and diplomacy. It's all about how it's used."

At the heart of the modern sports washing debate is the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), a massive sovereign wealth pot helmed by His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

At his appointment in 2017, MBS (as he's more commonly known) was a relatively unknown entity in the Gulf state.

Over the last decade, he has well and truly made Saudi Arabia a household name, for better or for worse.

Most people would, by now, have flown through the country, attended a mega-event there or had a mate who's relocated to the kingdom.

The PIF is reportedly worth $1.6 trillion AUD. That's 12 zeros.

And LIV Golf was one of their flagship strategies to increase international buzz in the region.

Now, the kingdom has decided the event no longer maps onto its wider ambitions, and has reportedly pulled its funding from LIV beyond 2026.

"When it (LIV Golf) was established there were actually a number of prominent golfers like Rory McIlroy who spoke out against it," explained Nolan.

"There was the use of the Public Investment Fund to try and make this pivot, distract away from at that stage, lots of attention on Saudi after the murder of journalists, the human rights, the ability to speak out within the country.

"The idea that you would use public money to sports wash over and say 'look over here and see what we're doing to promote world sport and unity,' it just didn't work.

"LIV Golf was the flagship and (it has) lost nearly a billion dollars since it started. Part of it is a business decision that the league itself doesn't seem commercially viable and they could argue that's why they're pulling back.

"But, I think the constant human rights noise around what seemed like a fairly, really blatant move to sports wash over the human rights record of the country didn't go smoothly."

LIV Golf's demise speaks to the changing winds in the PIF's strategy, alongside a noticeable lack of new mega-events secured after a flurry of acquisitions, including the 2034 World Cup.

The multibillion-dollar investment delivered a new prospectus that outlined its strategy for 2026-30, focusing on more internal investment while "maximizing financial returns, strengthening investment efficiency and increasing private sector participation."

As the PIF's reach extends well beyond the putting green, teams and sports connected could also be on the chopping block.

They'd all be set scrambling as millions, perhaps even billions, of dollars of investment would be lost in an instant.

Al-Hilal was one of four Saudi Pro League clubs controlled by PIF. The others are Al-Nassr, where Cristiano Ronaldo plays, as well as Al-Ittihad and Al-Ahli. But weeks ago, the PIF sold their ownership stake in Al-Hilal.

Aramco is a major title sponsor of Formula 1, which PIF has a significant ownership stake in, so much so that Houthi rebels bombed an Aramco base in Jeddah some 40 kilometres away from the Formula 1 track in 2022.

The first inkling of the PIF's massive foray in sport was their acquisition of Premier League team Newcastle United. At the time, Newcastle was on its knees, battling the woes of relegation.

Now, Newcastle is far removed from those dark days, having lifted the Carabao Cup in 2025. But even they are not immune to the backpedalling and the kingdom's financial recalibration.

Newcastle United executives are reportedly set for meetings in May to discuss the PIF's 85 per cent stake and the future of their relationship.

Even women's tennis has felt the pinch, with the WTA Finals being held for one last time in Riyadh in 2026 before the kingdom withdraws its hosting duties and prize money.

"In my view, Saudi Arabia's recent adjustments to its sports washing efforts mark more of a rational recalibration than an abrupt pivot," said Jules Boykoff, a professor in the Department of Political Science at Pacific University and former professional football player.

"Two trends jump out of the whirling swirl of activity, a focus on football in preparation for the 2034 men's World Cup and an emphasis on fighting sports like boxing and mixed martial arts.

"Saudi Arabia seems to be interested in privatising some of its soccer clubs, which is another interesting shift."

The FIFA World Cup has historically been a hotspot for the discussion of sports washing.

When Qatar hosted the 2022 tournament, the world rightly began to scrutinise the nation's record.

"I think in some ways the Qatar World Cup got more attention around some of the rights issues than obviously what they would have liked," Nolan noted.

"The huge investment they made actually backfired by drawing unwanted negative attention to their own human rights record.

"The idea you know sport is a great thing and should be used to promote unity and bring people together. But it shouldn't be used to cover up the dirty record underneath.

"Sports washing is basically trying to say 'just look at the sport, ignore everything that's underneath it'."

"It's like a duck paddling furiously under water.

"Sports washing (says) let's look at the whole picture. Let's look at the duck on top of the water and the duck underneath the water and figure out how it all fits together."

And as the hosts of the 2026 World Cup - Canada, USA and Mexico - face their own strife just months out from the opening game, it's a stark reminder that Western nations have their own murky dealings.

"The term sports washing has long been brandished in an ethnocentric fashion," explained Boykoff.

"It's easy to waggle a finger at countries like Russia, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia while ignoring the sports washing happened in places like the United States under Donald Trump.

"To be sure, sports washing has flourished in places like Russia, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, but it can thrive in putative democracies as well. When people ask whether sports washing 'works', they often mean whether it works on changing the attitudes of international audiences.

"But, in reality, domestic constituencies are equally important, and in some cases the primary target of sports washing. Sports have been a vital way for Mohammed bin Salman to keep the local population happy and to lure talented expats home to live and work."

So if the Saudis do pull the plug on LIV and other global sports ventures, where does all that money go?

"I'm not necessarily sure they're going to move it to other sports, but at the moment the Middle East is obviously recalculating costs and economy in light of the war," said Nolan.

"It could be strategic priorities (that) have probably shifted due to the ongoing war and you know it would also be impacting their oil exports etc."

Ultimately, the LIV experiment may serve as a cautionary tale for regimes looking to buy a clean slate.

"There's a whole lot of business reasons around it but what I think it shows is that this approach of trying to use these sort of successful investments as you like, to wash or improve the kingdom's human rights image hasn't worked," Nolan said.

"I would say their approach, which was to distract and use sports to move people away from examining their human rights record, has not been successful.

"If anything, it's a failure of the reputation management strategy that they embarked on by sponsoring LIV Golf, it hasn't worked."

Long LIV Golf has become a little more 'LIV and let die'.