The sentiment is clear: American sports fans do not like Saudi Arabia’s growing involvement with their pro sports.

The reasons are less clear: It may or may not have everything to do with the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against the United States of America and the role Saudi Arabians played. It may or may not have a lot to do with the Saudi government’s record of human rights violations. It may or may not have something to do with good ol’ American resentment toward Muslims and Muslim-majority countries like Saudi Arabia. It could be any of those things, or it could be all of those things, blended together like a toxic melting pot of grief and fear and hate.

It was all at the forefront of sports media this past week, when the PGA Tour announced a merger with LIV Golf, the upstart professional league financed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. After nearly two years of feuding between the rival organizations, which included some (seemingly) no-coming-back-from-that comments on both sides, the unexpected unification — which, in the words of many golf fans and media, now gives the Saudis symbolic ownership of one of America’s favorite sports — sparked a fresh deluge of public vitriol for the Saudis and for any American sports figure who goes into business with them.

While the criticism is targeted, it is not out of bounds to wonder how much of the backlash is rooted in a blanket dislike, distrust, and disdain for Muslims in general.

The PGA-LIV merger isn’t the only recent instance of big-time sports and big-time Saudi money crossing paths. The Public Investment Fund (PIF) — which is designed to invest money from the uber-rich Saudi government into a variety of global business interests — gained controlling ownership of the Newcastle United soccer club in England’s Premier League in 2021. World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) struck a deal with Saudi Arabia in 2018 to bring its pro wrestling shows to Saudi cities Jeddah and Riyadh a few times each year.

Many of the PGA-LIV merger’s loudest critics will say most, if not all, of their objection comes from Saudi Arabian involvement in 9/11, which was the largest and most deadly terrorist attack on U.S. soil in history. Its perpetrators identified as Muslims, which launched a new and enduring era of Islamophobia in America that persists to this day.

On the same day the PGA Tour announced the LIV partnership, the 9/11 Families United organization released a statement denouncing the move, pointing out that PGA commissioner Jay Monahan had previously used 9/11 as part of his anti-LIV stance during his feud with the competition. The statement called the PGA “paid Saudi shills” who should be “ashamed of their hypocrisy and greed.” It also accused Saudi Arabia of “sportswashing,” a.k.a. trying to use sports to clean up its negative reputation.

But here’s where distinctions should be made between Saudi Arabians being involved in 9/11, and Saudi Arabia being involved. The majority of the 19 individuals identified as primarily behind 9/11 were Saudi Arabians, most notably the historically infamous terrorist Osama Bin Laden (who, for what it’s worth, had been exiled from Saudi Arabia and had his citizenship revoked long before 2001). However, the 9/11 Commission’s official report found no actual involvement, planning, or funding of the attacks from the Saudi Arabian government. Also, the U.S. responded to 9/11 by going to war with Iraq and Afghanistan, not Saudi Arabia. Still, for many, the accusations and perception that Saudi Arabia was responsible for 9/11 have never gone away. So for American-based companies like the PGA Tour and WWE to then work with the Saudi government, it is seen by many Americans as a betrayal.

There is also the issue of human rights violations and the Saudi government. According to Amnesty International, the list of abuses committed by the country — in an official capacity — includes execution and torture of its citizens, limits on free speech (especially anti-government speech), discrimination against women, religious intolerance, and mistreatment of migrant workers. Saudi Arabia is of course a Muslim-majority country run by Muslim leaders, and many outsiders see those kinds of abuses as inherently Islamic; as religious issues rather than cultural.

It’s no secret that a lot of Americans simply do not like Muslims, and don’t know enough about Islam to not fear the religion. Now, when they’re reading and hearing about Muslims who are in a foreign land all the way across the world, there is even more of an element of the unknown, which increases fear and distrust.

The staunch objection to Saudi Arabia inserting itself into American sports may also come across as an Islamophobia issue because America already has a history of doing business with countries that were or are deemed enemies: China. Russia. Cuba. Germany. Mexico. America also has a history of doing business with countries that have poor records when it comes to human rights. And lastly, these sports entities do most of their business in America, which itself comes under scrutiny for how it operates globally and domestically.

Consider: There are a lot of Americans who wholeheartedly believe the U.S. government has committed a laundry list of human rights abuses, up to and including murder and discrimination and mistreatment. The U.S. government has a sizable body count from attacks carried out in other countries. Whether it’s proven facts or conspiracy theories, these are popular beliefs among many Americans. So if one has a problem with the PGA Tour working with a Saudi financier, shouldn’t they also have a problem with the tour welcoming American funders? If one believes WWE should not run shows in Saudi Arabia, why should they be OK with WWE running shows in the U.S.?

Maybe it’s all selective outrage, which, while inconsistent, is natural among human beings around the world. Many are too blinded by patriotism and loyalty to see the similarities in the bad acts of a foreign country and the bad acts of their native land. So in the case of golf’s most controversial story, a strong possibility exists that what’s really happening is not an American public that simply wants Saudi Arabia to stay out of its sports, but that wants Muslims to stay out of its sports.