By Le Figaro with AFP
Published yesterday at 8:09 p.m., Updated yesterday at 10:18 p.m.
Many surfers came forward to prevent the construction of this tower which destroyed coral. GAIZKA IROZ / AFP
Following the damage caused by the construction of the judges’ tower, the federation plans to do without it.
The International Surfing Federation (ISA) has proposed to the Polynesian government and the Paris Olympic organizing committee to abandon building the controversial judges’ tower and to judge the event at Teahupo’o via images taken from the shore, sea and air.
«On December 9, the ISA sent a proposal to the Polynesian government and Paris 2024 organizers to hold the Olympic surfing event in Teahupo’o without building a new tower on the reef», Explains the body in a press release dated Tuesday. The ISA proposes to judge the event with “live images from land, water and drones».
Read alsoOJ 2024: “drones to replace the judges’ tower for surfing events” for Pierre Sasal, director at the CNRS in Polynesia
A construction that damages the coral
«Faced with this change of position, Paris 2024 will contact the key players in the matter, the Polynesian government, the International Surfing Federation, the WSL and OBS (broadcaster of the Olympic Games, editor’s note) to understand how the ISA envisages the organization events without having to resort to a judges’ tower, taking into account sporting, television broadcasting, budgetary and heritage issues», Reacted Tuesday evening the organizing committee of the Paris Olympics (Cojo). This indicates that the international surfing federation is “fully involved since 2021 in discussions on the need to build a new tower for the proper organization of broadcasting and refereeing operations for sports competitions“. Furthermore, he “reaffirms its ambition to organize surfing events in Tahiti».
This proposal was made when the Polynesian government announced that the event could be held at the Teahupo’o site on December 10. Polynesian President Moetai Brotherson presented a work schedule which should result in a functional tower on May 13, a few days before the World Surf League (WSL) world tour stop. He also took advantage of having obtained the support “unanimous of all the mayors, of the surf federation (of Tahiti, Editor’s note) and even of the associations, apart from one, and of a surfer, who thinks he represents the community of surfers».
At the beginning of December, during technical tests, a barge intended for the installation of the resized aluminum tower had broken coral, pushing the Polynesian government to pause the work. The test was “poorly prepared“, criticized the Minister of Sports and the Olympic Games, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra. The ISA then welcomed the suspension of work. The aluminum tower intended for the judges of the event, and which replaces a wooden tower which is no longer up to standard, is at the heart of tensions between the authorities, the organizers of the Olympic Games and the local populations, and is experiencing many twists and turns .
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