World Skate strips Rio de Janeiro of skateboarding world championships

Trouble is brewing in the bowl ahead of skateboarding’s second appearance at the Olympic Games. A dispute between local organizers and World Skate has led the governing body of skateboarding to remove their recognition of the Skateboarding World Championships 2022.

Around The Rings obtained a letter published by World Skate confirming the cancellation of the street and park world championships due to be held in Rio de Janeiro in October.

The letter claims local organizers failed to meet the terms of a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the parties in May 2022.

“This decision was made - not lightheartedly - after witnessing the LOC’s organizational and financial inability to comply with the terms and conditions of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between World Skate and the Organizers,” read the letter sent by World Skate to national federations and commission members.

“Several attempts were made by World Skate until the very last minute to stage the event, including the decision to incur some of the costs initially due by the organizers, in order to allow the World Championships to be consistent with the minimum requirements in force to run the event, and guarantee the payment of the athletes’ prize money.”

However, it would seem the rift between local organizers and World Skate was too great. The Brazilian Skateboarding Confederation (CBsk) was quick to respond, noting its regret over the decision.

“The Brazilian Skateboarding Confederation regrets the decision of World Skate to no longer participate in the realization of the 2022 World Skate Park and Street Championships,” read a statement from the CBsk.

The confederation reiterated their commitment to staging the events in spite of World Skate’s decision.

“The Brazilian Skateboarding Confederation joins STU and supports the platform in holding the two championships that will be the biggest events in the sport since the Tokyo 2020 Olympics,” confirmed a statement from the confederation.

“CBSk and STU reinforce that all conditions negotiated and inserted in the memorandum were fulfilled by the two Brazilian parties, in order to build two great events in partnership with World Skate,” added the confederation.

“World Skate presented some demands that were not in accordance with the memorandum and with what had already been agreed upon between the three parties. As a result, STU and World Skate did not reach a conceptual and commercial agreement,” concluded the confederation.

The CBsk also noted the lack of clarity surrounding qualifying events for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The removal of the two championships leaves an empty calendar for the remainder of 2022.

The qualification period for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games began on June 22. World Skate staged one pro tour event for street skaters this summer, but has yet to confirm any additional qualifying events.

According to the qualification system published by World Skate, the world championships have the heaviest weight on the Olympic World Skateboarding Rankings. It remains to be seen if the two events can be scheduled in time to save an important qualification opportunity for athletes on the road to Paris 2024.

World Skate did not respond to a request for comment on the cancellation of the world championships and the effect it could have on Olympic qualification by the time this story was published.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has yet to publicly weigh in on the state of skateboarding qualifications for the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics, which are due to begin in less than two year’s time.