By Maria Alejandra Peña

In the midst of a sociopolitical crisis and the resulting instability that this brought to all sports in Venezuela, Freiber Zerpa was the one who grabbed the hot iron of the country's surf federation.

Weeks ago, it was reported that a new board of directors had been formed, with Thaina Luna as its new president. Her assumption of office put an end to a series of events that have now ended peacefully.

In the following paragraphs, after a conversation with Zerpa himself, each of these events is decoded.

This is how he became president
Freiber Zerpa was a director of the FVS and is one of the founders of the South American Surfing Confederation. He is an active Judge with International accreditation from the International Surfing Association (ISA), a member of the FVS Board of Directors chaired by Antonio Sotillo and acting president of the FVS during his absence.

Once former President Antonio Sotillo notified his indefinite absence for family reasons, an extraordinary assembly was called on January 21, 2016, chaired by Heli Valero and based on article 14 of the FVS Regulations, Zerpa was elected.

Why didn't he organize the elections as the rules required?
As he explained in an interview with DUKE, the associations that formed the FVS did not exist legally for various reasons: the lack of clubs at the national level, a lack of qualified personnel in the sport, inactivity, absence due to emigration and disorganization of athletes in general. He added that the efforts were made, however, it was not possible to achieve the final mission.

After traveling to Peru to conduct surf training courses, the new group introduced an exceptional measure, stating that Zerpa had voluntarily separated from the FVS. Subsequently, elections were held to effectively elect the incoming Board of Directors for the 2017-2021 period.

Venezuela's controversial participation in the 2018 Pan American Games
The Pan American Surfing Games were held in Lima, Peru, from December 5 to 9, 2017. The Venezuelan surfing team did not have the resources to attend and did so with the funds obtained by surfer Juan Pedro Medina. The chosen team caused some controversy in the Venezuelan surfing community, as it was considered that some surfers included in the group “should not be there,” due to their sporting performance and the conditions under which the group was chosen. Zerpa gave the FVS approval for the trip, carried out the process of registering the group and traveled to the event with the athletes and Juan Pedro Medina.

In this regard, Zerpa defends the decision he made and says that "Venezuela managed to place itself in seventh place in the final ranking, in the next events this will represent a great help, despite any accusations, I think that in the final terms the country managed to position itself, that is positive."

The move of the new president, Thaina Luna Fernández
When Zerpa was in Peru, after the aforementioned sporting event had finished, he extended his stay. In Venezuela there was talk of his abandonment of the FVS, however, in a meeting at the Venezuelan Olympic Committee (COV) with the newly elected Board of Directors of the Federation that took place at the beginning of May, Zerpa clarified the situation.

He turned to Thaina Luna Fernández, now president of the FVS, with whom he had worked in other areas previously, and said: “You are aware that when I left for Peru I told you that I would stay for two months to take a surfing course. I left you in charge so that you could keep me informed. After two weeks I did not receive any kind of response from you, and I even offered you to be my vice president on the list that I was going to propose.”

At this, Fernández remained silent and finally replied: “I was not the person who convened the Restoration Commission and I did not give an affirmative answer to being vice president in your project.” Zerpa responded: “I know it was not you, but when there was talk of my abandonment, you should have clarified the situation with the information you had and I trusted you.”   

The meeting between the Board of Directors and Zerpa served to clarify doubts about an alleged challenge by the latter, which he clarified he would not carry out. Rather, they discussed the possibility of working together with the goal of Venezuelan surfing as their goal.

What's next for Freiber Zerpa?
Zerpa has been working in Venezuelan surfing since 2008 and in parallel to this he has cultivated his technical knowledge, with the completion of certificates among which the following stand out: Beach Announcer and Live Broadcasting in Peru, Marketing, Administration and Sports Law with the Venezuelan Olympic Committee and the Surf Judging Course with the ISA.

Also, during his stay in Peru he participated in events of the Peruvian National Surfing Federation (Fenta)  and in a world event of the World Surfing League (WSL), and since the end of 2017, he is a director and one of the founders of the South American Surfing Confederation.

“I will continue working in the field, reconciling new projects in national and international surfing and I will continue with the development and professionalization of my sports career,” he concluded.