Speaking on Wednesday at a press meeting near Bedminster, New Jersey, Terry Strada, seat of 9/11 Families United — a coalition of family members and survivors of the 2001 terror assaults — said that playing such a tournament so close to the venue of the worst terrorist strike in American history is wrong.
Your competitors, the third in the collection, will be played in Trump National Golf Club Bedminster beginning Come july 1st 29.
“On September 11, after nearly 3 hours of unparalleled terror by nineteen Saudi-funded terrorists, Bedminster and surrounding towns came together within extraordinary ways, ” said Strada, which lost her husband in the attacks.
“750 blameless people from Nj were brutally murdered, leaving over one, 000 children within our towns without a mother or father, including my 3. Friends, neighbors and strangers embraced the suffering and assisted us move through the devastation and discomfort. ”
Alison Remy Crowther, a 9/11 Families United associate whose son died during the terrorist attacks, emphasized that Saudi Arabia must be held accountable for the “barbaric human rights atrocities for which they are known” should the kingdom wish to “gain legitimacy around the modern world phase and be seen as planet leaders. ”
Echoing this particular sentiment, Matthew Bocchi, whose father, Bob, also died during the attacks, noted the girls had gathered “to voice our worries about accepting LIV and to declare that individuals, as 9/11 families, are not going away. inch
“We are infuriated, harm, and feel as if we’ve been let down once again along with professional golfers joining up with the very nation responsible for our discomfort and suffering, ” he said.
The allegations associated with Saudi government complicity with the attacks on September 11, 2001, have got long been the subject of dispute in Washington. Fifteen of the 19 ing Qaeda terrorists who have hijacked four planes were Saudi nationals, but the Saudi authorities has denied any involvement in the assaults.
The 9/11 Commission payment established by Our elected representatives mentioned within 2004 that it experienced found “no evidence that the Saudi govt as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded” ing Qaeda.
Still, the victims’ families have pushed for further disclosures, and last year the particular FBI released the document that information the FBI’s work to investigate the claimed logistical support that the Saudi consular formal and a suspected Saudi intelligence agent within Los Angeles provided to at least two hijackers.
According to the criticism, LIV Golf told CNN in a statement: “As we have said just about all along, these families have our deepest sympathy. While some may not agree, we think golf is a force for good around the world. ”
The 9/11 concern is just one of several criticisms of the LIV Golf series.
Fronted by former world No . 1 Greg Grettle, the team-based LIV series is backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) — a sovereign wealth fund chaired by Mohammed bin Salman, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia — and has pledged to award $250 million in total prize money.
Tournaments are kept over 54 holes, rather than the PGA Tour’s 72 holes, and there are no gamers cut during tournament play.
The huge sums of money up for grabs, plus less demanding needs, spurred a number of golf players — many in the twilight of their careers — to break far from the PGA Tour and join LIV, including six-time major winner Phil Mickelson, four-time major champion Brooks Koepka and former world No . 1 Dustin Johnson.
Strada continued to criticize the particular participation of the gamers, in particular the American ones, saying these were willing pawns in Saudi Arabia’s sportswashing — an expression used to describe corrupt or authoritarian regimes using sport plus sports events to whitewash their picture internationally.
“LIV Golf is just not about sports or good competition amongst worthy competitors, this is a multibillion-dollar public relations stop bought and paid for by the Kingdom associated with Saudi Arabia. By joining LIV, players have shamelessly partnered with the very nation that U. H. intelligence reports prove had numerous connections to the attacks upon September 11th, ” she said.
She said she had provided to both ALL OF US President Joe Biden and LIV Golfing CEO Norman to satisfy with 9/11 Families United and solution their questions.
She also said she has been “very disappointed” in former US Chief executive Donald Trump’s decision to sponsor the event at his course but mentioned he wasn’t a key player.
Last week, Trump acquired informed golfers that they should join the controversial visit and “take the money now. ”
“All of those golfers that will remain ‘loyal’ to the very disloyal PGA, in all of its various forms, will pay a big price when the unavoidable MERGER with LIV comes, and you get nothing but a big ‘thank you’ from PGA officials who are producing Millions of Dollars a year, ” Trump wrote on Truth Social Mon.
“If you don’t take the money now, you will get nothing following the merger takes place, in support of say how intelligent the original signees had been. ”
CNN had not received a response from Trump or his group at time of syndication.