John McEnroe, one of the greatest tennis players of all time, has expressed his opposition to tennis seeking Saudi investment, calling golf's PGA Tour "hypocrites" for striking a deal with the country's sovereign wealth fund. McEnroe, who won three Wimbledon titles and four US Open titles in his illustrious career, said that tennis should not pursue Saudi money and accused the country of using sports to whitewash its human rights record.
Earlier in June, the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and rival LIV circuit, which previously engaged in a bitter fight that divided golf, announced a merger to form a unified commercial entity. “I wouldn’t encourage it personally, the Saudi thing. I’m not surprised that tennis is being thrown into the mix after what we saw in golf.”
“I don’t think that’s something that we should be pursuing. It’s not in my hands. I don’t know why in the hell tennis would suddenly be; let’s talk to the Saudis after the debacle that you’re watching in golf. To me, it’s comical that it’s even being brought up right now,” added McEnroe.
The chairman of tennis's ATP Tour, Andrea Gaudenzi, told the Financial Times last week that he has held discussions with the PIF and other potential investors on projects including infrastructure, events and technology investment. McEnroe also said that many people who are complaining about Saudi investment are hypocrites, as they have dealings with the country or other questionable entities.
“It looked to me like the PGA were total hypocrites when they cut a deal after they’ve been fighting [Saudi Arabia’s LIV Golf], in my opinion,” said McEnroe. “At the same time, the people that are complaining about it, a lot of the people are hypocrites because our government does business with them along with tons of other hedge funds, wealth funds, you could down the list of people that have dealings.”
