Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to withdraw funding for LIV Golf after £1bn loss | World News

LIV Golf players and staff have been told that Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is withdrawing investment from its costly breakaway series after the 2026 season, Sky News understands.

An announcement is set for Thursday by LIV announcing a new strategy going forward to try to keep the rebel series going without being reliant on the Public Investment Fund (PIF), which is overseen by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.

It is understood captains of the teams were informed earlier this week.

Doubts have grown about the future willingness of Saudi Arabia to bankroll the sports soft-power project during two weeks without any denial from PIF that it is no longer willing to keep losing money on LIV.

It coincided with PIF not referencing sport its a new 2026-2030 strategy – unlike a previous long-term plan announcement – and indicating a need to refocus investment within Saudi and “maximising financial returns”.

LIV plans to sell stakes in the teams, which PIF built the series around in 2022 after attracting some of the world’s best players to defect with lucrative signing-on fees running into hundreds of millions of dollars.

It is chaired by PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan, who is also chairman of Premier League club Newcastle United – another strand of the Saudi sports portfolio which has rapidly expanded in an attempt to reposition the image of the Gulf nation.

A source says there will be new leadership of LIV, which attempted to merge with the established PGA and DP World tours in 2023, but talks collapsed despite an intervention last year by US President Donald Trump.

Those who defected to LIV in 2022 included major winners Bryson DeChambeau and Sergio Garcia, along with English duo Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood.

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But LIV has lost over £1bn in five years. While starting to attract more crowds to its events, it has never garnered media coverage and interest on a par with the long-established prestigious events on existing series.

LIV used the Roman numerals to highlight its 54-hole events, but it has since expanded to a traditional 72-hole, four-round format.

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Senate hearings were held in Washington in 2023 into concerns the Saudi government would have been running an American sporting institution if LIV merged with the PGA Tour.

For the Saudis, it is about diversifying the economy away from oil. But human rights groups viewed it as the Saudis bolstering their influence and status in sport as a means of cleansing the kingdom’s image.

The PGA Tour deplored that rights record when it went to court to thwart LIV a year ago, before backtracking and attempting unsuccessfully to link up.