The DP World Tour has won its legal battle to impose fines and sanctions on LIV players who played in conflicting events without permission.
Sport Resolutions upheld the DP World Tour’s conflicting tournament release regulation and its ability to sanction members who breached it. Furthermore, appeals brought by those members have been dismissed.
The decision follows an arbitration which took place before an independent three-person panel, chaired by His Honour Judge Phillip Sycamore CBE, from February 6 -10, 2023.
There are 11 events left in the LIV Golf League season, so tournament suspensions from the DP World Tour for playing those tournaments would all-but end any chance of competing on both circuits.
In summary, the Sport Resolutions panel found that:
- Keith Pelley, the DP World Tour’s Chief Executive, “acted entirely reasonably in refusing releases”.
- The relevant regulations are lawful and enforceable. The regulations “cannot be said to go beyond what is necessary and proportionate to the [DP World Tour’s] continued operation as a professional golf tour” and the DP World Tour has a legitimate and justifiable interest in protecting the rights of its membership.
- The sanctioned members “committed serious breaches of the Code of Behaviour of the DP World Tour Regulations by playing in [LIV Golf events] despite their release requests having been refused”.
- All of the players’ challenges therefore failed, their appeals are dismissed in their entirety, and the £100,000 fines originally imposed must now be paid within 30 days.
STATEMENT FROM THE DP WORLD TOUR
Keith Pelley, the DP World Tour’s Chief Executive, said:“We welcome today’s decision by Sport Resolutions which upholds our regulations and our ability to administer them.
“We are delighted that the panel recognised we have a responsibility to our full membership to do this and also determined that the process we followed was fair and proportionate.
“In deciding the level of these sanctions last June, we were simply administering the regulations which were created by our members and which each of them signed up to.
“It is, of course, regrettable that resources, both financial and staffing, which could have been otherwise deployed across our organisation, have been impacted by this lengthy arbitration process.
“However, with the clarity provided by today’s decision, we look forward to continuing to focus on our 2023 global schedule, whilst also continuing to plan for 2024 with the valued support of our many partners and stakeholders.
“We will now carefully consider the details of today’s decision with our Board, our Tournament Committee and our legal advisors and take the appropriate action in due course.”
