The widow of slain Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi has made a call for golfers who have competed in the Saudi-backed LIV Golf League’s inaugural event to be banned from major tournaments.
Khashoggi was murdered at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey in 2018, with a declassified US intelligence report last year accusing Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman of greenlighting the operation to “capture or kill” the journalist.
With Salman in control of the Saudi Public Investment Fund that took over Premier League football club Newcastle United last year and has bankrolled LIV Golf, Khashoggi’s fiancee Hatice Cengiz has spoken out against the breakaway competition that has attracted top players such as Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson.
A total of 17 players have taken part in LIV Golf’s ongoing 54-hole opening event, where $4 million will be awarded to the winner.