LIV Golf Alleges DP World Tour Interference Ahead of Key Restructuring Deadline.
Dubai: LIV Golf has accused the DP World Tour of attempting to disrupt its restructuring efforts after the European circuit announced plans to deny membership to players competing in the breakaway league next season.
The dispute came into focus during a court hearing on Wednesday, when LIV Golf’s legal representative expressed serious concerns over the DP World Tour’s stance, describing its timing as a potential attempt to undermine the league’s reorganisation.
Rob Fitzgerald, an attorney at Gibson Dunn representing LIV Golf, told the court that a decision on whether the organisation would move forward under its proposed “LIV 2.0” structure was expected by the end of October.
“We’re continuing to monitor this situation very closely and we’re quite concerned by it frankly,” Fitzgerald said, referring to the DP World Tour’s position.
“The timing in particular strikes us as a clear attempt to interfere with our process with our players and potentially our reorganisation writ large.”
Fitzgerald argued that the move raised broader competition concerns, echoing LIV Golf’s previous criticism of restrictions imposed by rival tours on players seeking to compete in the breakaway league.
“It also raises a lot of the same anti-competitive concerns that LIV has expressed previously regarding the way competing leagues have sought to box out and punish market participants, namely these players, from participating in LIV and really only LIV,” he said.
In previous seasons, conditional releases had enabled several prominent golfers, including Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton, to compete in tournaments organised by both LIV Golf and the DP World Tour.
Fitzgerald reiterated that player autonomy remained central to LIV Golf’s vision as it worked towards a potential restructuring.
“Player freedom is the reason LIV Golf was created, and it’s the foundation of LIV Golf 2.0, a league built around its players,” he told the court.
“LIV has been vocal in its belief in free agency and that the best players should have greater flexibility to compete across the ecosystem. It’s unfortunate that another tour is taking an opposite view and pressuring our players with false choice.”
Judge Michael B. Kaplan, who is overseeing the proceedings in the New Jersey Bankruptcy Court, acknowledged the issues raised during the hearing.
“The comments I have read do raise concerns,” Kaplan said.
When Judge Kaplan pressed for clarity on the timeline for launching LIV 2.0, Fitzgerald outlined two crucial conditions that must be met before the proposed restructuring can proceed.
These include finalising the league’s organisational framework, which involves securing investment from BC Partners, and signing a sufficient number of players to ensure the competition is viable.
The deadline for securing the required player commitments has been set for October 25, making the coming days critical to the league’s future plans.
“We are working hard around the clock both on the player front and on the structural front,” Fitzgerald added, emphasising the ongoing efforts to meet both requirements ahead of the deadline.
