The WSL confirmed that Slater will not be in France or Portugal for stages 9 and 10 of the world circuit, as his foot injury continues to bother him and every time he surfs it gets worse, he told the authority.

Slater surfed very well at the Surf Ranch Pro, the first stage of the world tour at the Lemoore pool, but he is still not fully recovered: “Every time I surf I need more time to recover so I think I will be resting for the next few months. “I probably wouldn’t reclassify at this time so I will rehab and get my body ready for Pipe. Then rest at the end of the year to get really fit.”

As reported by the WSL 10 days ago when it announced the 2019 schedule, the first stage will be in April and not March, which will give Slater an extra month of recovery.

Slater broke his foot freesurfing at Jeffreys Bay in 2017 and what he had said was an injury lasting a few weeks ended up stretching to more than a year.

The question of what will happen with the injury wildcard remains unanswered, as there will be three surfers applying for it: Caio Ibelli, John John Florence and Slater himself. The WSL has not yet commented on this.

On the other hand, the WSL published the Quik Pro France series which shows three available spots and we can already see this year's substitutes escalated: Miguel Pupo is there, Wiggolly Dantas is there, Mikey Wright is not there but it is expected that he will receive the brand's wildcard.