Brazilian Yago Dora and Australian Sally Fitzgibbons have received WSL wildcards for the first half of 2023 and Caroline Marks of the United States has joined Gabriel Medina in receiving a wildcard for the second half of 2022, the WSL reported recently.

This dashes the hopes of Carlos Muñoz and Liam O'Brien, also injured, of getting a place.

According to reports, time on tour and ranking are the main factors when selecting wildcards. The decision is made by the WSL tour and competition commissioners.

Muñoz's hopes for one of the WSL events are based on being given a wildcard in the absence of more than one surfer, in case there are many injured, to mention an example.

The WSL statement also details that in the event that an athlete is missing from the 2022 events, the first substitute surfers are Dora and Fitzgibbons.

In the justifications of the statement, the WSL details that Marks was one of the best and youngest surfers in the WSL, that Fitzgibbons has a giant tradition on the tour and that Dora suffered an injury prior to her debut on the tour and was ranked ninth at the end of the 2021 tour.