Ben Rowe, a surfing judge for the Paris Olympics, withdrew from the competition in Tahiti on Thursday after a photo of him posing with Australian surfer Ethan Ewing and his coach Bede Durbidge was posted on social media.
According to the Associated Press, the International Surfing Association removed Rowe from his position to “protect the integrity and fairness of the ongoing competition.”
“We are aware that photographs have been circulating on social media of one of the Australian Olympic surfing judges interacting with an Australian athlete and team manager,” the ISA said in a statement, according to the Associated Press. “It is inappropriate for a judge to interact in this manner with an athlete or team.”
Rowe, Ewing and Durbidge are all from North Stradbroke Island in Queensland, which fits the photo’s Instagram caption perfectly. According to the Daily Mail“These three Straddie boys are doing well in the Olympics.”
The photos of the three have attracted a lot of attention, along with questions about their objectivity.
According to the Associated Press, an ISA statement noted that the decision took into consideration its code of conduct and the International Olympic Committee’s code of ethics.
The ISA added that it had “contacted all judges and teams to remind them of their responsibilities regarding appropriate behavior,” according to the Associated Press.
Ewing addressed the issue correctly after the Heat exited.
“Yes, I’ve been getting abused online, but I don’t know any of the stories, I don’t know anything about it.” he told Stab Magazine..
“It’s certainly sad.”
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This is not the first time Lowe has been the target of criticism.
He served as a judge for the Tokyo Olympics, but many fans and critics accused him of being biased against star-studded Brazilian surfer Gabriel Medina. According to USA Today.
Low’s resurgence in the news has prompted many to take to social media.
“The real question about the Ben Rowe situation is how many races his poor decisions affected. I understand his bias in the 2020 Olympics, but he’s been a nuisance to everyone for years.” A user wrote to X.
Another person said:“Not surprisingly, Ben Lowe was known to intentionally give Gabriel Medina poor scores (lower than average scores compared to the other judges) and higher than average scores to his opponents.”
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Looking at the other side of the controversy, Ewing lost 15.33 to 13.00 to Australian Jack Robinson in the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, Medina advanced to the semi-finals thanks to a series of strong performances.
