“Not Supported by Any Evidence”: Days After Surf Ranch Pro Controversy, WSL CEO Erik Logan Slams Claims

Griffin Colapinto, a surfing superstar from the United States, dominated the 2023 Surf Ranch Pro. Colapinto trounced Brazilian surfer Italo Ferreira in the finals to claim the No. 1 spot on the WSL 2023 Men’s Championship Tour. The final margin of victory was a razor-thin 0.64 points. The rating decline of Joao Chianca and Filipe Toledo following the tournament was met with disapproval by Brazilian fans. Nonetheless, three-time WSL Champion Gabriel Medina added addressed the subject by publishing an open letter on Instagram criticizing the WSL’s decision-making process in the wake of a major upset. However, WSL slammed him back with a reaction, and now the CEO of the World Surf League has spoken publicly about it.

Erik Logan, CEO of WSL, wrote a message that was published on the company’s website not too long ago. He said that the letter was sent in response to recent discussions over the judging of the competition and the final results at the recent Championship Tour event held at the Surf Ranch Pro.

WSL addressed the aftermath of the 2023 Surf Ranch Pro

The issue that arose following the Surf Ranch Pro quickly became the talk of the surfing world. Erik Logan claims that many unnamed surfers, WSL judges, and workers have been harassed, intimidated, and threatened with assault and death since the event. According to Logan, this is a devastating blow to the sport, and all those involved in it. The WSL CEO also asked the community to stand with them until the issues get resolved.

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In the official statement, Logan stated, “We completely reject the suggestion that the judging of our competitions is in any way unfair or biased. These claims are not supported by any evidence.” He then elaborated on two key points about the criteria used by the WSL to choose winners in its sanctioned tournaments. As per Logan, the participants were given access to the WSL’s judging criteria and given the opportunity to raise questions about the criteria prior to competition. On May 20, 2023, the judging criteria for the Surf Ranch Pro were sent to the competing athletes. At that time, no contestants had expressed any disagreement about the process.

Erik Logan also brought out a second important aspect of their regulations. He asserted that competitors may challenge the judges after points have been awarded and ask for a thorough review of the results. But, as Logan detailed, no such inquiries were made directly to the authorities; rather, several surfers played the social media game and sought redistribution of points. This was a “breach of league policy,” in Logan’s opinion.

In the conclusion of his message, Logan conceded that everyone in the industry is an elite athlete and that healthy conversations are encouraged rather than unofficial rumors that spread worry.

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