The WSL responded to criticism from surfing fans around the world, especially from the Brazilian triumvirate of Gabriel Medina, Italo Ferreira and Filipe Toledo.

“Integrity and fairness are fundamental to everything we do,” they wrote in a statement sent to the press, in which they emphasized their willingness to talk to surfers to improve judging, but at the same time defending themselves with respect to the communication of what will be judged each day.

For a wave pool, they sent the key points in a communication to the surfers two days before training.

The statement makes no reference to what the Brazilians have said or to what is said in the comments.

But they note that they will improve their communication with surfers for the overall improvement of the sport.

The full statement reads as follows:

“We are committed to continuing to work towards the growth of the sport in Brazil, supporting our surfers, fans and staff through events, partnerships and community engagement. The WSL exists to showcase the world’s best surfers competing on the world’s best waves.

Integrity and fairness is paramount in everything we do. At WSL competitions, a panel of five judges and a head judge independently evaluate each wave. They analyse every wave in real time and using a dedicated replay system, with additional camera angles beyond those seen by fans on the broadcast.

Competitors receive judging criteria prior to each day of competition, which outlines scoring guidelines based on stage placement at the surf location. Surfing is a subjective, ever-evolving sport and we encourage constructive debate about the progression of our sport and the criteria used to judge our competitions.

For the Surf Ranch Pro, the judging criteria were shared with all surfers on May 20th, prior to their training days for the competition. All competitors had the opportunity to discuss the criteria before the competition and after their heats with the Tours and Competition team.

We will continue our communication work to always improve the sport and transparency between judges, athletes and competition rules, so that everyone can strengthen the exponential growth of professional surfing in Brazil and in the world.”