Michigan resort faces criticism for hosting Saudi-backed golf league stop

(Michigan Advance) The LIV Golf team championship is set to host professional stars and international music acts this weekend at The Cardinal at Saint John’s Resort in Plymouth, Michigan – but with it comes criticism from at least one of the resort’s patrons over the league’s connection to the Saudi Arabian government and its noted record of corruption and human rights abuses.

LIV Golf was founded in 2021 and is owned by the Saudi government’s Public Investment Fund. The mammoth $941 billion sovereign wealth fund was created in the 1970s as a means to invest the Saudi royal family’s money on the government’s behalf.

Much of that funding has gone to prominent Saudi business families with strong ties to the royal family, all controlled by the nation’s Crown Prince, according to reporting from The Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal.

Current Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, the nation’s prime minister and its de facto ruler, has been described as an authoritarian leader who has, since taking power, created an oppressive regime that stifles women’s and human rights activists, and tortures and kills political dissidents. ..................(more)

https://michiganadvance.com/2025/08/19/michigan-resort-faces-criticism-for-hosting-saudi-backed-golf-league-stop/