Golfers corrupted

Sport is rightfully held up as an almost sacred outlet, an expression of culture, identity and moral fibre.

Whatever, the game, sport can be a healing and unifying force and nowhere more than Tyrone can attest to those qualities with last year’s All Ireland triumph.

But in recent weeks the dark forces which often lurk in the corporate and upper echelons of professional sport came to the fore with the announcement that a host of household names from the world of golf have signed up to play in a new Saudi Arabia backed tournament.

Much like the hugely controversial and ultimately unsuccessful attempt to set-up a European football super league, money has been the driving factor in this latest controversy which has engulfed golf.

One of the North’s legendary Major winners, Graeme McDowell declared that he is ‘proud’ to help Saudi Arabia on their ‘journey’ while at the same time describing the murder of Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 as ‘reprehensible’.

The fact that so many talented golfers like McDowell and former world number one Dustin Johnson have openly said they have been lured by the millions of extra dollars is reprehensible.

As sports fans here in Tyrone, the abuses committed in the distant lands of the Middle East may seem almost irrelevant, but this new LIV Golf Tournament really needs to be called out. Saudi Arabia’s human rights abuses cover every aspect of everyday life.

According to Amnesty International, those arbitrarily detained, prosecuted or sentenced in Saudi Arabia were human rights defenders, government critics and other political activists. Courts resort extensively to the death penalty and people are executed for a wide range of crimes. Migrant workers continue to be vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.

And women continue to face serious discrimination in marriage, divorce, inheritance and child custody.

Hopefully these uncomfortable truths will help convince golf fans to switch off the coverage of these ‘sport-washed’ tournaments.