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Another obstacle has emerged in the path of Erin Brooks’ journey to compete for Team Canada in the 2024 Paris Olympics. According to a press release sent out yesterday, the International Surfing Association has reevaluated Brooks’ citizenship status and decided to immediately suspend her eligibility to compete as a Canadian.
CBC recently reported on the attempts by Erin Brooks’ family, the Canadian Olympic Committee and Surfing Canada to get Erin Canadian citizenship in time to surf for Team Canada at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Though Brooks was born, raised and resides in America, her family has applied for dual citizenship based on her Canadian heritage. However, Canadian law dictates that in order for a person born outside Canada to be a “citizen by descent,” that person must be born in the first generation to a Canadian parent. As a result, the application appears to have been in limbo for some time now.
In a statement released this morning, the ISA stated that, because her application has still not been approved, Brooks will be immediately ineligible to compete as a Canadian until she can supply the proper documentation. They also went one step further, stating that the exception allowing her to compete as a Canadian up until now should never have been made in the first place.
“In March 2022, Surfing Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee requested Ms. Brooks be allowed to compete for Canada, as her citizenship application had been filed, but not completed,” details the release. “A decision was made by the ISA administration to grant this request, based on assurances received from the Canadian Olympic Committee and Surfing Canada that the citizenship was in process. The petition was approved without proper consultation of the ISA Executive Committee (EC) and the ISA President.”
“Following further analysis of the case in recent days, the ISA EC concluded that this decision was taken incorrectly and not in accordance with the applicable ISA Rules. According to the applicable ISA Rules and the documentation available at that time, the request by the Canadian Olympic Committee and Surfing Canada should have been rejected.”
More than just a mea culpa on the part of the ISA, the statement has very immediate ramifications for Brooks herself. As her citizenship has still not been established, the ISA Executive Committee “has decided that Ms. Brooks’ eligibility to compete for Canada has been suspended with immediate effect.”
According to Erin’s father, Jeff Brooks, the decision came as a surprise. “There was no indication that this was coming, everything seemed fine, everything seemed to be moving forward,” he told CBC, “This process has taken longer than any of us ever thought it would and I am still trusting in the COC and their efforts with the Canadian Immigration Minister to get Erin’s citizenship issues resolved.”
“I’ve told Erin to only focus on the things she can control which is to continue surfing and training. We are hopeful she will be reinstated soon and can get back on track to chasing her dream of representing Canada in the Olympics.”
We reached out to Jeff Brooks for further comment but have yet to hear back.
The ISA press release states that if the Canadian sport authorities can provide “proof of citizenship with a verified document from the Canadian government,” that they will re-evaluate Brooks’ eligibility.
Though the timing of the decision is unfortunate for Brooks, it is unclear what effect this will have on her Olympic bid. The most pressing issue is whether she will be a citizen in time for the upcoming Pan American Games that will take place in Santiago, Chile at the end of October. If Brooks were to win the event, it would qualify her for the Olympics. However, CBC reported that the exemption granted to her in previous ISA events would not have applied to the Pan Ams anyway, making the ISA’s decision to revoke her exemption irrelevant in this case.
There are also other opportunities for her to qualify for Team Canada, even if she misses her chance at the Pan American Games. Seven spots will go to the top ranked women at the 2024 ISA World Surfing Games, as well as one spot for the Olympic committee with the top ranked women’s team overall.
Finally, Erin also presumably has the option of joining a different Olympic team. In addition to her home country of the United States, Brooks has also been courted by the Olympic Committees of Italy and Germany, according to her father.
Hopefully the issue resolves soon, as Erin is undeniably a great surfing talent, no matter what country she competes for. For their part, the ISA expressed their apologies for the confusion, “The ISA takes responsibility for the administrative error made so we would like to express our deep regret and offer our apologies to Ms. Brooks and her family for the impact this case may have on her personally – with the hope that this case of her citizenship will be resolved promptly.”
“The ISA EC has been seeking legal counsel on this issue and will continue to do so in terms of next steps and consequences of this case.”
