Saudi Arabia's LIV Golf sports-washing, which was publicised and showcased by Canal+'s SuperSport without qualms, has finally fully imploded and is shutting down internationally, meaning all operations and events in South Africa are officially cancelled.
At a bankruptcy court hearing on Thursday, the league's legal team officially confirmed that they have abandoned all restructuring plans, known as "LIV 2.0" and that LIV Golf is shutting down with a total liquidation and wind-down of the business starting Monday.
LIV Golf initially said that they intended to continue in South Africa - but that was just some temporary plan that has now completely fallen apart.
When the league originally filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September 2026 in the United States, LIV Golf CEO Scott O'Neil released an open letter explicitly naming South Africa, Australia, and Asia as the "vital, highly profitable international markets" that they fully intended to preserve and build around for the proposed "LIV 2.0" relaunch in 2027.
But that all failed.
In March 2026, the league made its historic African debut by hosting LIV Golf South Africa at The Club at Steyn City in Johannesburg.
MultiChoice and SuperSport gleefully went along, although human rights organisations have repeatedly noted and explained at length how Saudi Arabia was using LIV Golf to try and deflect from Saudi Arabia's abhorrent behaviour.
In 2018, journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered by a 15-member team of Saudi assassins with the CIA that found that his killing was ordered and approved by Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman.
LIV Golf created Stinger GC as a South African team, which was later rebranded as Southern Guards GC because of trademark complications.
The criticism regarding SuperSport's partnership with LIV Golf in South Africa mirrors the broader global debate over sports-washing.
Media analysts, human rights advocates, and critics have argued that by promoting and broadcasting the league, SuperSport effectively and shamelessly served as the PR vehicle for Saudi Arabia's controversial state-backed project.
Through showcasing LIV Golf as some kind of a premier, high-energy entertainment spectacle, SuperSport joined in efforts of sportswashing on MultiChoice's DStv by diverting public attention away Saudi Arabia's from human rights abuses.
Instead of associating the league's financial backer, the Saudi Public Investment Fund, with issues like the murder of Jamal Khashoggi or crackdowns on dissent, African audiences watching DStv were presented with a type of "celebratory" broadcast.
Unlike several major Western networks that hesitated to broadcast LIV Golf due to ethical concerns and public backlash, SuperSport shamelessly went "all-in" with LIV Golf.
SuperSport prioritised ratings and "new content", as well as media rights over corporate social responsibility, signalling that financial gain took precedence over taking a stand against autocratic regimes using sport for reputation management.
Hilariously, LIV Golf CEO Scott O'Neil and South Africa's sports minister Gayton McKenzie held a joint press conference promising that LIV Golf was "never leaving this continent again".
There was also talk of a so-called "2027 relaunch" with a 4-day tournament scheduled for April 2027, that would be even "bigger, better and bolder", and with promises to expand with music, concerts, "fan zones" and to host future tournaments in other venues across South Africa by 2029.
Gayton McKenzie even paid R82 million in taxpayer money to pay LIV Golf Events for the tournament licence fee.
The shutdown is an absolute humiliation, particularly for South Africa and SuperSport.
SuperSport's uncritical and shameless LIV Golf promotion and its league has now ended in corporate embarrassment.
SuperSport wasn't just a passive broadcaster - it acted as a primary public relations engine for the Saudi state's reputation-cleansing efforts in Africa.
"As the broadcast partner to Africa’s first-ever LIV Golf tournament, LIV Golf South Africa, SuperSport has gone out to match the innovation that LIV Golf has brought to the sport of golf,” said Rendani Ramovha, Canal+ director for sports content in English and Portuguese-speaking Africa, still enthused in a prepared press statement in March.
Now SuperSport's "first-ever" LIV Golf tournament in South Africa has turned into "last-ever" - with egg on the face.
