A filing last week with the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) by a public relations firm that had been hired by LIV Golf could lead to further scrutiny for the Saudi-backed league.
Gitcho Goodwin, a Boston-based company, filed a registration statement with FARA last week after “further consideration” that “the Saudi [Public Investment Fund] occasionally supervised [LIV Golf’s] public relations activities”.
Gitcho Goodwin, who no longer works with LIV Golf, according to the Wall Street Journal, wrote press releases and marketing brochures for LIV Golf and also provided media training for players, according to the filing. The deal between the company and LIV Golf began in February and included a monthly retainer fee of $55,000 and a one-time bonus of $125,000.
Gitcho Goodwin decided to file a FARA statement after a US District Court hearing where a “Saudi attorney acting on behalf of the PIF testified that the PIF is” inextricably intertwined with the [Saudi] government such that [the PIF’s] the objectives may be indistinguishable from the interests of the Saudi government’”.
After the hearing, which was part of the antitrust and counterclaims between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour, a magistrate judge ruled: “It is clear that PIF is not a simple investor in LIV; is the driving force behind LIV’s founding, funding, oversight and operation.”
LIV Golf has stated that it is a promoter of golf, not the government of Saudi Arabia, and should not be required to register as a foreign principal or agent; but critics claim Saudi Arabia has invested more than $2 billion according to court documents into the league as a form of “sports laundering.”
Gitcho Goodwin’s FARA filing, which requires agents of a foreign government to disclose their political and public relations activities in the US, could force LIV Golf, or the other companies it does business with, to register under FARA, which could be seen as a concession that PIF engages in commercial activity through LIV partly for profit and partly for propaganda purposes.
The antitrust and counterclaims are currently mired in multiple discovery disputes, as well as a potential appeal to the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, with the current trial date set for May 17, 2024 .
