Veteran sports broadcaster Bob Costas excoriated pro golfer Phil Mickelson for accepting an offer to join the Saudi-funded LIV Golf league.
The golf Hall of Famer reportedly accepted $200 million to join the league funded by Saudi Arabia, but Costas told CNN's "New Day" that Mickelson had destroyed his legacy by signing off on the kingdom's civil rights abuses.
"Well, he's trying to smooth things out, but this is blood money," Costas said. "No two ways around it, this is blood money. This is not like once the NFL was a challenge to the AFL and maybe fans would say maybe we'll go over there. That isn't the case. This is Saudi blood money."
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"We know all we need to know about the royal family and what they have done," he added. "It is not just [Jamal] Khashoggi. It is not just the ongoing oppression of women and gays, they're directly or indirectly tied, according to U.S. and British intelligence, to the 9/11 event. It is one thing that you just had Dick Durbin on."
"It is one thing for the president, Dick Durbin may have advised him not to meet with them, it is one thing to meet as presidents have with Russian leaders over the years or Nixon goes to China, that's not a stamp of approval, and they're not being paid by them. This is an entirely different thing."