By Maria Alejandra Peña

The Supervisory Board of the Venezuelan Surfing Federation “did not find any basis or evidence” to support the complaint that promoter Pedro di Palma filed against President Thaina Luna for alleged administrative irregularities, according to the report prepared by the body and sent to DUKE yesterday.

In the document, the president of the Council, Yaritza Rodríguez, refers to the fact that the people involved were contacted via email and a meeting was also organized to discuss the issue, which was attended by Ingrid Castro and Kirbin Palma from the Honor Council; Leonardo Medina and Boris Linares from the National Commission of Surf Judges of Venezuela; Armando Colucci from the Athletes Commission; Gheyber Gutiérrez and Gabriela Navas from FVS Marketing; Dr. Elizabeth, Psychologist; Carlos Pérez and Ingrid Castro from the  FVS Lawyers Staff; Edimar Luque, FVS athlete spokesperson and Sergio Ortega, high performance planner.

In reference to the most important point of the complaint made by Di Palma, which referred to the fact that money had allegedly been negotiated but she had been informed that only hydration would be provided, the report establishes at one point that: “There was no evidence of monetary gain on the part of Ms. Thaina Luna for the publicity of the event” and that “There was no evidence of disbursement or sale of the stand in money, much less in dollars, by Ms. Thaina Luna.”

The document also refers to Mr. Di Palma's complaint that more publicity was given to one brand than another, and this, they point out, could not be proven either: "This Oversight Board cannot issue an opinion regarding whether or not there was more publicity for one sponsor than for another, since it was not present at the Event and the evidence submitted shows that all sponsors were given participation; whether it was of greater or lesser importance is not within the jurisdiction of this Board. What the evidence indicates is the fact that advertising participation was granted to all Sponsors."

It is not yet known whether Di Palma will pursue this complaint in any other way.

In early September, the athlete and promoter of the Choroní Xtremo Festival event filed a complaint against the president of the Venezuelan Surfing Federation, Thaina Luna, with the Athletes Commission. According to what the complainant told DUKE, the president had informed him that a brand that was closed without his consent did not negotiate money but did exchange drinks, but later he said that the amount between $450 and $900 had been negotiated.

The president did not want to speak with DUKE at that time, and asked that the federal lawyer, Ingrid Castro, be contacted, who at that time asked that the Comptroller Council be allowed to speak.

Days after this complaint, it became known that the Secretary General of the Federation had resigned.

 

Response Letter from the Comptroller Council to the Choroni Complaint by DUKE He Scribd