20 April 2023 , 14:28
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Greg Norman has insisted his 'focus' is firmly on golf, after questions were once again raised about LIV Golf 's links to with Saudi Arabia ahead of this week's event in Adelaide.
LIV originally formed last summer and since then have faced plenty of criticism, with many branding the breakaway league a cog in the sportswashing machine of the Saudi Arabian government due its Public Investment Fund backing
During it's maiden season in 2022, LIV was slammed by human rights charity Amnesty International for it's funding from the Middle Eastern nation, with players joining the breakaway tour labelled 'willing stooges of Saudi sportswashing'.
Ahead of LIV's maiden event in Australia on Friday, Norman was questioned whether he had addressed human rights issues with the Saudi government, but was quick to play it down. "I'm the chairman and CEO of LIV Golf Investments, and that's where I focus. I focus on golf.
"Golf is a force for good. I've been involved with golf, like I said, as a player, as well as golf course design. I've built some golf courses in third-world countries. I've built golf courses in Communist countries.
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Greg Norman is keen to focus on the action on the course (Getty Images)'It goes everywhere with the right platform because it delivers the right message, from education to hospitality to employment to tourism. Everywhere you go, golf is a force for good." LIV were forced to apologise last summer on behalf of Norman, when the former world No. 1 discussed the killing of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi by the Saudi state.
He said: "This whole thing about Saudi Arabia and Khashoggi and human rights, talk about it, but also talk about the good that the country is doing in changing it's culture. Look, we’ve all made mistakes and you just want to learn by those mistakes and how you can correct them going forward."
Heading into this week's Adelaide event, a similar sportswashing question was also posed to one of LIV's marquee players, the 2020 US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau. In response DeChambeau was quick to defend the breakaway circuit.
LIV Golf star Bryson DeChambeau played down the sportswashing claims (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)He commented: "Well, we talked about that last year, and we already kind of kicked that to the curb. It's something that I truthfully believe is completely inaccurate.
"People have their opinions and their perspectives on it. But we certainly don't feel that way." Clearly keen to focus on the action on the course, rather than the controversy off it, he added: "We're playing golf here."