After disaffiliation, athletes defend Brazilian Skate Confederation

Since World Skate, the federation responsible for Olympic skateboarding, announced its disaffiliation from the Brazilian Confederation of the sport (CBSk), last Wednesday (10), the country's main athletes have spoken out in favor of the national entity. The Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB), appointed to manage the sport until the Games in Paris, France, also spoke out, guaranteeing that preparation will not be compromised, despite skaters claiming otherwise.

Two-time world champion in street skateboarding, Pâmela Rosa said she was “embarrassed” by the entity appointed by World Skate as responsible for the sport, the Brazilian Confederation of Hockey and Skating (CBHP). According to her, the institution has “nothing to do” with the skateboarding community.

“At this moment, I am extremely saddened by an undemocratic decision, which will greatly harm my preparation for this Olympic year,” wrote Pâmela on Instagram.

Another skate star to speak out on social media was Rayssa Leal. Fadinha, also a two-time street world champion and silver medalist at the Tokyo Games in Japan, argued that CBSk was the one who carried out the training and competitions that prepared Brazilians to return from the Olympics in the Japanese capital with three medals.

“Skateboarding culture has three values: excellence, friendship and respect. That's why it was so cool to see skateboarding at the Olympic Games! [Sobre] values, you can see it in our community, because we, skaters, make a point of practicing every day on the streets. It's in our blood! I believe we managed to show this, for the whole world to see, through the Olympic Games, because those who were there were skateboarders, you know? Real skaters!”, declared Rayssa.

Silver in Tokyo at the skate park, Pedro Barros was another to speak out on Instagram. For him, skateboarding's entry into the Olympics brought shine to the sport, but it was accompanied by “political issues”, without consulting the athletes.

“Imagine that the basketball community receives a statement that it will no longer be represented by the CBB [Confederação Brasileira de Basquete]but by CBV [Confederação Brasileira de Voleibol], as it is a sport with a ball, net and played with your hands. Neither basketball nor volleyball are just that. There is a culture linked to these two modalities and it would not be fair to the basketball community, or the volleyball community, to treat them in the same way”, described Pedro.

A reference for Brazilian paraskating, Vini Sardi said that CBSk “embraced” the adapted version of the sport, even though it is not yet part of the Paralympics program. The athlete, who also presides over the Brazilian Paraskate Association (ABPSk), criticized World Skate for, according to him, having neglected the possibility of the sport being included in the Los Angeles edition, in the United States, in 2028.

“World Skate never did anything for paraskateboarding and, when it had the chance, it missed the deadline to send the documents to start the process of inserting paraskateboarding into the Paralympic Games. Today, we know that it was pure politics. We work hard […] for paraskating to enter the Paralympics. If this happens, we want CBSk to represent our sport”, commented Vini on Instagram.

COB cites Olympic Charter

The COB commented on the controversy involving CBSk and CBHP last Friday (12), in letter addressed to skateboarders, signed by the entity’s president, Paulo Wanderley. According to the director, the entity needs to follow what determines the Olympic Charter, at the risk of punishment, such as the country not having representatives of that sport in World Championships and the Olympics.

“The International Olympic Committee [COI] is the maximum authority of this system, in terms of management. The National Olympic Committees [CONs] They are representatives of the IOC in their respective countries. […] All of these entities have autonomy in their respective jurisdiction, but always in obedience to the Olympic Charter. Therefore, it is up to the COB, as well as other sporting entities, to respect statutes and comply with the determinations of the Olympic Charter, always respecting the hierarchical level”, said Wanderley.

“The COB ensures that the Olympic preparation towards Paris 2024 of the athletes, whose sporting results we are so proud of, will not be compromised. This support also extends to all members of its technical committees”, added the director.

The COB Athletes Commission (Cacob) also expressed its opinion. In a statement released on Instagram, the collegiate stated that it is working with the skaters so that there is no harm to Olympic preparation.

“We know that this is a delicate moment for athletes, where they are focused on their preparations and Olympic qualifications. We need to join forces to ensure that skateboarding has the best possible performance and preparation for Paris 2024”, concluded Cacob’s position.

Old controversy

Skateboarding was included in the Games program starting in Tokyo. Both CBSk and CBHP were affiliated with World Skate. The first, from the beginning, received support from skaters as the entity responsible for the Olympic sport, resulting in the COB recognizing it as such. The international federation, however, changed its statute, accepting only one confederation per country. The folders would have until December 31st to be unified, but there was no consensus.

World Skate reported that CBHP proposed the creation of an “umbrella” fed
eration, called Skate Brasil, covering the 13 modalities managed by the two entities. The idea, however, did not receive support from CBSk, which, according to the international federation, refused to collaborate, in addition to carrying out a “defamatory campaign in the media”.

Without an agreement, World Skate delegated to CBHP the creation of a single national body to manage the modalities. Furthermore, he entrusted COB with the “technical, sporting and financial management of skateboarding” until the Paris Olympics.

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