Rugby league star Christian Welch has taken a brutal swipe at Peter FitzSimons for his hypocritical stance on Australian golfer Cam Smith signing with Saudi-backed LIV Golf tour.Smith's shift to the breakaway golf league is reportedly earning him $140 million - something the former Wallabies star and husband of TV host Lisa Wilkinson - slammed as 'blood money' in a recent column.
But the Melbourne Storm prop pointed out that FitzSimons recently appeared in an advertising campaign for the food delivery app Uber Eats which Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman is a major investor in.
'It's okay for you to profit (albeit indirectly) from the Saudi investment fund but not a golfer?' Welch shared on Twitter.
'Same money funding LIV invested in Uber, Boeing & Starbucks. Are you complicit when you get a ride home or a cappuccino? How far does it go? I don't recall the same outrage at those companies, but dare a golfer accept the cash on offer.'
FitzSimons recently wrote in a Sydney Morning Herald opinion piece: 'In this sporting war, the only thing LIV offers is the billions they're prepared to put out for 'sportswashing,' to improve their image,'
'Seriously, what does LIV bring to the table in this war, bar blood money?
'And yes, $130 million is a hard thing for anyone to refuse. For that amount, you could probably make yourself believe – or at least say – anything.
But if you still haven't signed, Cameron Smith, don't. You're a fabulous bloke, who we all love and are proud of. And so I don't say this just for us, but for you.'
LIV which is a rival tour to the PGA - has come under fire since its inception with critics claiming Saudi Arabia is using the sport of golf to 'sportswash' its appalling human rights record.
The oil-rich dictatorship routinely executes domestic dissidents as remains one of the most repressive places on earth for woman and the LGBTQI community.
In 2018, 15-man hit squad sent on the orders of Bin Salman carried out the horrific murder and torture of journalist Jamal Khashoggi on the grounds of the Saudi Consulate in Turkey.Keen to revamp their image in the wake of the international embarrassment, Saudi Arabia has funded the LIV Golf Invitational Series to the tune of $3billion with another $2.9billion to fund events in 2023 and 2024.
The term 'sportswashing' is the practice of using sport as a propaganda tool to improve the reputation of a nation, company or individual.
Nations with poor human rights records will often look to host major international sporting events with the hope it will gloss over their treatment of minorities and raise their diplomatic standing in the world.
Sportswashing also happens when companies or individuals with shady pasts sponsor sporting teams or events to win favour in their community or with government.'