Legendary Chilean surfer Ramón Navarro harshly criticized his country's national surfing federation in two Instagram story posts on Wednesday.

“The big problem with sports in Chile is that they lack leadership. And most of the leaders do not practice the sport. It is impossible to ask for changes and have results if the top officials of the Chilean surfing federation are not surfers,” Navarro explained.

He added: “The time will come when we surfers will do things the right way. Today we have a country where surfing is only allowed in certain places and there is no organisation to take a clear stance on the situation.”

“The Chilean Surf Federation does not represent me, today or ever, with this directive. And it is very obvious that they do not know what surfing means for the life of each of the athletes, amateurs or professionals, because they are not. The Chilean Surf Federation, once again, is not doing its job,” he said.

In response to these statements, the president of the Chilean surfing federation, Paula Muñoz, told DUKE:  “I will not comment on the statements of the most important Chilean surfer, out of respect for his career. I do want to mention that Ramón Navarro contacted us internally on our social networks after his publication and his questions were answered.”

“I would like to be very emphatic and insist that you be very cautious and responsible with the words that are issued through these media outlets. The best way to resolve all your doubts and requests for information is through formal channels, our institution's email, website and directly (by phone) with our leaders. Communication is always open. In this way we collaborate in the harmonious growth of our sport, especially in situations in which we are not used to being. Our Federation is made up of all of us, the athletes, clubs and lovers of the sea,” added the authority.

Asked if there is a protocol for the return of surfing to the Chilean coast, Muñoz said: “The Ministry of Sport, together with the Chilean Olympic Committee and sports federations, are working to create a protocol that allows the development of outdoor sports in this pandemic. Thanks to the efforts made by our federation and Olympic Committee, surfing is now part of these sports activities.”

Regarding DUKE's query on which beaches are open to surfing or not, Muñoz explained that, given the state of national emergency, the Ministry of Health is the one to determine whether surfing is allowed.

"The rest of the authorities are subordinate to him and his main strategy has been to manage the crisis in a territorial manner, where depending on the situation in each area, the measures are more or less restrictive," Muñoz said.