Gabriel Medina has been critical of the judging this year. Photo: Beatriz Ryder//World Surf League
According to André Gioranelli, there is a common thread on why Martin Potter, Barton Lynch, and Ross Williams are no longer part of the World Surf League broadcasts: They “couldn’t stand” not being able to express their opinions on air, particularly related to judging.
Gioranelli, a former Brazilian pro surfer turned surf coach who worked as an announcer on the WSL’s Portuguese broadcast from 2010 to 2023, freely spoke his mind, making the comments about the WSL on the podcast Let’s Surf in mid May.
He detailed how the WSL pressured him and other announcers to not talk about judging, not mingle with judges, and not give their opinions on judging. He cited two specific examples in Hawaii and Australia.
“It was finals day, 7 a.m. in the morning before the event (at Sunset),” Gioranelli recalled. “I’m not going to say names, but well-known names (within the WSL) with a lot of power told me to not talk about judging, to not mention anything, and to not give our opinions.”
When Gioranelli received that message, he says he looked at his fellow commentator, Ricardo Bocão, who was dumbfounded, and said, “But that’s our job. What are we going to talk about then? Boards? Wind? Perfect waves?”
Gioranelli went on to give another example while working at the Margaret River Championship Tour stop.
“I was talking with two judges during their break, just chatting about surfing like we are doing now – who was doing well, who wasn’t doing well, John John is ripping,” said Gioranelli. “And I think I mentioned something about Kanoa Igarashi, a normal conversation, nothing crazy. Then at night, Klaus Kaiser (another Brazilian announcer) received a message from the boss: ‘Don’t say anything to the judges. Don’t broach that topic with them.’”
Gioranelli goes on to say that he thinks the WSL has been doing a good job with the events and how they treat the athletes, but highlights that the WSL is a “biased monopoly” that needs more transparency and the announcers are essentially tongue-tied in the booth, something that those watching at home may not realize. For that reason, he says, some of the beloved announcers don’t want to work on the broadcasts anymore.
“I watch the webcast in English and they don’t want to give their opinions because there are people in their ears (telling them not to),” explained Gioranelli. “That’s why Martin Potter is not there, why Barton Lynch is not there, why Ross Williams is not there. Those guys couldn’t put up with it.”
I reached out to Gioranelli to expand but he declined to go into further detail. I’d say these comments on the podcast all but surely mean Gioranelli doesn’t ever intend to return to the WSL broadcast booth. But he does, perhaps, shed light on a curiosity I’ve had: how and why the broadcasts shuffle through some announcers, while others stick around.
Editor’s Note: The quotes have been edited for clarity and have been translated from Portuguese into English to best retain the original sentiment and meaning.
