The fourth day of Olympic surfing in Tahiti started with controversy. On Thursday, The International Surfing Association announced it had removed one of the judges, Australian Benjamin Lowe, after an image surfaced on social media of Lowe posing for a photo with Ethan Ewing and Australian team coach Bede Durbidge.
The ISA, worried about the implication of bias, released a statement saying it removed Lowe from the judging panel for the rest of the event to “protect the integrity and fairness of the ongoing competition.”
Previously, Lowe has been criticized by Brazilian surf media, which accused Lowe of underscoring Gabriel Media at the Tokyo Olympics. Brazilian big wave surfer Pedro Scooby reposted the image of the three Australians, who all hail from North Stradbroke Island in Queensland.
The ISA’s full statement reads:
The ISA is aware of a photo circulating on social media in which one of the Olympic surfing judges from Australia is seen socially interacting with an Australian athlete and the team manager.
It is inappropriate for a judge to be interacting in this manner with an athlete and their team.
To protect the integrity and fairness of the ongoing competition, and in accordance with the ISA Code of Conduct and IOC Code of Ethics, the ISA Executive Committee has decided to remove the judge from the judging panel for the remainder of the competition.
This decision is not related to this judge’s performance here at the Olympic Games.
The ISA has communicated with all judges and teams to remind them of their responsibilities regarding appropriate behavior.
This is a developing story. SURFER will continue to provide updates as more information becomes available.