Ribeiro probably should have just taken the test. Photo: RB Content Pool
In July, I reported a story that I felt would have strong reverberations in the surfing world: Portuguese surfer Vasco Ribeiro was given a three-year ban from competitive surfing for refusing to take a drug test. I repeat, not because he tested positive for some steroid, but because he didn’t want to pee in a cup. This had never been seen in surfing.
I received several Instagram messages saying I should be ashamed for making such information public. I didn’t have to “burn” the guy and I was becoming “the bad guy in the surf industry,” some said. First, all the court documents from Ribeiro’s appeal were public information that I more or less stumbled upon in my daily Google Alerts. Second, would it really be best to sweep this incident under the rug so someone else could make the same mistake?
Then I came across a comment by Tokyo 2020 Olympian Manuel Selman that grabbed my attention. In Selman’s nearly 300-word post, he shifted (some of) the blame onto the Portuguese Surfing Federation and Portugal’s National Olympic Committee. “They did him wrong,” Selman said, expressing that he hopes other surfers “learn something” from this. Given he had gone through the testing protocol, I found Selman’s perspective valuable. I spoke with him so he could elaborate on his comment and learn more about the world of drug testing in surfing.
You said the Portuguese Federation and National Olympic Committee (NOC) did Vasco wrong. Can you clarify? Do you think the responsibility in Vasco’s case is more on the NOC and the Federation than on the athlete?
Well, no. It’s always the athlete’s fault 100 percent, but I’ve been in that situation where I needed to (give) a 60-minute window when the agents could come to my door and ask for a sample. Every time they came to test me, they didn’t come at the time that I put on the “whereabouts.” I used to put 10 p.m. at my house because I knew at 10 p.m. I was going to be there. They came around lunchtime, and luckily, I was there. I couldn’t refuse the test because I was present, even though it was outside of the 60 minutes (that I provided). I knew the rules. If I hadn’t been home all they would have had to do was sit and wait for me. And if I’m home, if I open the door, I have to take the test. There’s no way around that. I knew that because my federation and Olympic committee made me take a (course). I learned all that stuff.
Half of the guys on the Qualifying Series don’t read the rulebook. Especially if you’re in the RPT (Registered Testing Pool), you should read all the rules. (Vasco’s) coach also should have known more. My federation and NOC made my coach do the (course), so he knows all the rules as well. Surfing is a new sport and being on the RPT is new for everybody. So now Vasco is an example for future athletes. They’re going to be educated because this happened. It’s always the athlete’s responsibility to know everything, but it’s also the responsibility of the federation and the NOC to (provide) the tools to the athletes.
From your experience, do most of the athletes know these rules or would you say most have no idea?
Most have no idea.
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What was your anti-doping experience when you were tested out of competition?
I was on the RPT after Tokyo 2020. I was on that for a year and a half and they came to my doorstep around seven times that year. I got tested every time. I got tested twice before every ISA (event) and then they came randomly to my doorstep a few more times. I even had one sort of strike against me and three strikes is like a positive. What happened to me was that I was traveling that day and I hadn’t changed my home address and the 60-minute (window) for that night. I was flying to San Diego and staying at Skip’s (McCullough) house. I was at the airport at 1 p.m. and they called me saying they were at my door. I was like, well, I’m not there, I’m traveling right now. And then I remembered, I hadn’t changed the whereabouts. I went online on the plane and changed my whereabouts to that night at Skip’s house in San Diego. I got a letter saying that I missed it. Then I replied, saying that I had mistaken my whereabouts because I had upcoming travel that was very sudden. Then it was fine.
So you have to change your whereabouts every time you go somewhere. Does that get annoying?
Super annoying. You can fill out up to three months ahead of time. I would set my house for those entire three months and then every time I had a contest coming up or travel, I had to go online and change the address where I was going to stay every night, the regular activities, all the locations that I’m going to be doing those activities, competition schedules for those three months, and then a 60-minute time slot every day for them to be able to come and test me.
It’s especially annoying for surfers when you don’t know where you’re going to be for the next swell. But if I was going to go stay at a friend’s house on the other side of the island, I would have to change my address to my friend’s house because they could come that night to my house at 10 p.m. and if I’m not there, that’s a missed test, a strike.
Do you think the punishment is a bit harsh for Vasco, or is that just how it is?
That’s how it is. That’s what I’m trying to say. His federation and NOC should have given more tools for him to be involved. Refusing a test in front of the agent, that’s the worst because, for all they know, he’s taking the highest prohibited substance. They can’t prove it. But also, neither can Vasco because he didn’t take the test.
What would your message be to other pro surfers who find themselves in a situation where they’re subject to drug testing?
By all means, take the test, regardless of what you have going on. The main thing is to get informed and take the certification (course). I learned so much from the certification and it’s free. You just log in and you can do it yourself.
