Top Ad
I DIG Radio
www.idigradio.com
Listen live to the best music from around the world!
I DIG Style
www.idigstyle.com
Learn about the latest fashion styles and more...

Tour amends countersuit to add PIF, governor; Saudi Arabia warns of 'broad implications'

Written by 
Published in Golf
Friday, 24 February 2023 02:25

In a flurry of overnight activity, the PGA Tour amended its countersuit against LIV Golf to include the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia and its governor as defendants, while the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia informed the court it plans to file an amicus brief in the case that has now ballooned well beyond the original antitrust implications.

Last week, a U.S. District Court judge ruled that PIF and its governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, must submit to discovery in the antitrust case that was filed against the Tour by a group of players who had joined LIV Golf. On Tuesday, the judge granted the Tour’s motion to add the PIF and Al-Rumayyan as defendants in its countersuit.

The Tour filed its amended complaint, adding the PIF to the lawsuit, late Thursday shortly after attorneys for Saudi Arabia informed the court it plans to submit an amicus brief regarding the addition of the PIF as defendants. It cautioned the judge’s ruling “has broad implications for Saudi Arabia beyond the instant case” and that Saudi Arabia “intends to provide its views to the court on all of these matters.”

A judge has escalated the antitrust lawsuit filed against the PGA Tour by adding the Saudi Arabia PIF and its governor as defendants in the Tour’s counterclaim suit.

In a separate motion, the Tour challenged the judge’s decision to allow PIF and Al-Rumayyan to dictate the location of their depositions. The fund requested in a Tuesday e-mail that the depositions, which they seem certain to appeal, be taken in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which prompted a challenge from the Tour.

“It would also endanger the Tour and its counsel, who would be forced to take the court-ordered discovery in Saudi Arabia, where perceived criticism of the government can be punished with years in prison and where, according to PIF and Mr. Al-Rumayyan, such discovery would violate Saudi Arabian law and expose the Tour and its counsel to imprisonment,” attorneys for the Tour argued in a motion to compel the court to order the deposition be taken in the United States.

The Tour also argued now that PIF and Al-Rumayyan have been added as defendants in the counterclaim, they “must comply with their obligations just like any litigant in U.S. court proceedings.”

PIF has argued that it’s nothing more than an investor in LIV Golf and it has no control of the day-to-day operations of the league, which begins its season Thursday in Mexico. The magistrate judge, however, ruled that “PIF and [Al-Rumayyan] control virtually every major aspect of LIV’s operation and authorized and control LIV’s lawsuit [against the Tour].”

There’s a previously scheduled case management conference today before Judge Beth Labson Freeman in the Northern District of California that will likely be dominated by the addition of the PIF and Al-Rumayyan as defendants.

Read 199 times

Soccer

Saudi minister: Salah suits us but we had no talks

Saudi minister: Salah suits us but we had no talks

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsMohamed Salah may have signed a new contract at Liverpool, but he s...

Saudi minister: WC worker's death investigated

Saudi minister: WC worker's death investigated

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsSaudi Arabia's minister of sport, Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Fai...

Bundesliga history made with 8 goals in 1st half

Bundesliga history made with 8 goals in 1st half

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsUnion Berlin and VfB Stuttgart made history on Saturday as the firs...

2026 FIFA


2028 LOS ANGELES OLYMPIC

UEFA

2024 PARIS OLYMPIC


Basketball

Redick: Wolves' 'physicality' caught us off guard

Redick: Wolves' 'physicality' caught us off guard

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsLOS ANGELES -- After pushing themselves in the play-in tournament t...

Knicks go on 21-0 run as miscues tank Pistons

Knicks go on 21-0 run as miscues tank Pistons

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsNEW YORK -- The young, upstart Detroit Pistons, who had more than t...

Baseball

Yanks' Williams blows 4-run lead; ERA up to 9.00

Yanks' Williams blows 4-run lead; ERA up to 9.00

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsTAMPA, Fla. -- Three-and-a-half weeks into his New York Yankees car...

Berrios confronts Raleigh, suspects pitch tipping

Berrios confronts Raleigh, suspects pitch tipping

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsTORONTO -- Right-hander Jose Berrios suspected Seattle Mariners cat...

Sports Leagues

  • FIFA

    Fédération Internationale de Football Association
  • NBA

    National Basketball Association
  • ATP

    Association of Tennis Professionals
  • MLB

    Major League Baseball
  • ITTF

    International Table Tennis Federation
  • NFL

    Nactional Football Leagues
  • FISB

    Federation Internationale de Speedball

About Us

I Dig® is a leading global brand that makes it more enjoyable to surf the internet, conduct transactions and access, share, and create information.  Today I Dig® attracts millions of users every month.r

 

Phone: (800) 737. 6040
Fax: (800) 825 5558
Website: www.idig.com
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Affiliated