Ambassador since last year of Aramco, the Saudi national hydrocarbon company, Anna Nordqvist has just announced that she is ending this partnership after being subjected to “a torrent of criticism”. However, the Swede is at the start this week near Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) of the Saudi Ladies International, a tournament of the Ladies European Tour (LET) endowed with 5 million dollars.
Anna Nordqvist, statements
“I have to think about myself and I don’t feel good about it,” Anna Nordqvist told Swedish news agency TT. I wasn’t really prepared to receive such an incredible amount of hate and mean comments from people who don’t even know me.
» The 35-year-old Swede, winner of three Women’s Majors (LPGA Championship 2009, Evian Championship 2017 and British Open 2021) has thus ended her partnership with Aramco, the Saudi national hydrocarbon company, signed in the summer of 2021 , just before its success in Great Britain.
Aramco, owned by the Saudi state and the world’s largest oil company by revenue, has invested heavily in women’s professional golf in recent years, including on the Ladies European Tour (LET). A rapprochement that had been criticized, in particular by the human rights NGO Amnesty International, judging this “tactic” of “sportswhasing”, a roundabout way of concealing the Saudi record in terms of the environment, human rights or civil liberties, especially vis-à-vis women.
“It was never about the money for me,” Nordqvist added. I wanted to do something for women’s golf and in particular for the European Tour…” This decision was rightly welcomed by Amnesty International, deeming it “very wise”.
However, this did not prevent the current 30th player in the world from being at the start this week of the Saudi Ladies International in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), the best-endowed tournament of the LET (5 million dollars), excluding Majors.
“I have to participate in four tournaments on the European circuit before August because my big goal is to take part in the Solheim Cup (September 22-24 in Spain). I also think it is important to play all over the world and thus influence the younger generations to dream even bigger.
» In addition to Nordqvist, note the presence this week at the Royal Greens & Country Club of the world number 1, the New Zealander Lydia Ko, but also of the American Lexi Thompson, the South Koreans Hyo Joo Kim and In Gee Chun as well as French from the LPGA Tour, Céline Boutier and Pauline Roussin-Bouchard.
