Golf legend Gary Player says government should stay out of sports

Legendary golfer Gary Player thinks government and sports should not combine, because the golf world goes by means of a significant merger that has triggered antitrust issues.

Speaking to CNBC on the Berenberg Invitational on Monday, the South African golfer mentioned the 2 have turn out to be “too intertwined.”

“We’ve received to get governments to stay out of sport. It’s completely very important,” the 87-year-old corridor of famer mentioned. “Let sports our bodies persist with sports and politicians should persist with politics.”

Player, although, isn’t any stranger to political involvement in sports. He was an ambassador for Golf Saudi, a company pushing to make the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia a extra outstanding drive within the sport. Today, he’s an envoy for the Saudi power big Aramco. He shows its brand on his golf shirts.

Player additionally mentioned he helps the proposed merger between Saudi-backed LIV Golf and the PGA Tour, which has drawn criticism and scrutiny from regulators and lawmakers, to not point out golfers. (Previously, Player has spoken out towards gamers leaving the PGA Tour to hitch LIV Golf, saying it is for “guys that may’t win one the common tour any extra.”)

“With getting collectively now, the gamers could have more cash to play for perpetually, whereas it may not have gone on perpetually,” he mentioned. “The world will profit by placing the events collectively.”

Last week, a U.S. Senate subcommittee held its second hearing on the proposed merger. Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the Democratic chairman of the subcommittee, subpoenaed the Saudi Public Investment Fund for data associated to the merger and different U.S. investments.

Player additionally mentioned he is towards athletes getting too political, particularly singling out athletes who do not stand for the nationwide anthem in addition to the political opinions of the U.S. girls’s nationwide soccer workforce.

In 1989, the United States Ryder Cup workforce adopted the extremely debated use of “captain’s picks,” the place workforce captains decide who represents the United States. The follow has been round greater than 4 many years internationally.

Player was in Bedford Hill, New York, for his superstar golf occasion which raises cash for pancreatic most cancers, from which his spouse died in 2021.

“Golf is the best catalyst for elevating cash for charities around the globe,” he mentioned.