One sponsor made their own decisions about the Brazilian’s behavior and ended the cooperation.
The main thing in surfing is having fun. Illustration picture. PDO
Brazilian professional surfer João Paulo Azevedo has run into trouble after a video of him and his entourage’s violent behavior was linked to him.
The series of events started in Bali, when a surfer Sarah Taylor fought another Brazilian surfer for the same wave Adrian Portela with. Emotions heated up when Taylor took the wave, forcing Portela to end her performance.
Watch the video of the situation below or Click here.
The professional surfer’s friends didn’t like this. The video taken from the beach shows how one of Portela’s friends swims next to Taylor and punches him in the head from behind.
It didn’t end there. Later, a group of men searched the beach for Taylor and her friend. According to Taylor, the situation became so threatening that his friend decided to start filming the situation.
At this point, Azevedo became nervous. The video shows how a professional surfer demands to stop filming. After this, he approaches Taylor. The party also attacks Taylor’s friend.
The sponsor left
Taylor was not yet aware at this point with whom he had gotten into a fight on the beach. He shared the video on his Instagram account asking people to identify the people in the video.
At this point, the person who attacked Taylor was identified as Azevedo. With that, Kohu was ready.
The Australian media tells Azevedo’s personal sponsor ended the collaboration.
– After becoming aware of this unfortunate incident, we want to express our absolute rejection of violence against women, the company says in a press release.
Azevedo regretted his actions after being caught. The Brazilian tried to justify his violent behavior by saying that he thought he was teasing another man.
– I didn’t know she was a woman. He surfed and dressed like a man, Azevedot told Globo.
Azevedo says he lost his temper because he thought Taylor was not following surfing etiquette.
– He rode a common wave. He had no respect for anyone. He pushed my friend out of the crest of the wave.
– When I asked him why he acted like this, he splashed water on my face and shouted at me. I lost my temper and attacked him. It wasn’t until I hit her that I realized she was a woman.
Another sorry
Portela also published his own apology about the situation. He was not violent towards Taylor, but he was involved in an altercation on the beach. Portela participated in the skirmish by throwing insults.
– I want to make it clear that I did not touch anyone. However, I spoke and acted angrily and disrespectfully. I am very ashamed of my actions.
Portela reminds that the video circulating on the internet does not tell the whole truth about what happened.
– I continued surfing until I saw my friend, the woman who pushed me from the wave, and her friend fighting on the beach. I swam to the spot, and because I didn’t understand what exactly had happened, I lost my temper and behaved really disrespectfully towards women.
– I acted wrongly. I shouldn’t have talked to women the way I did now. Things got out of hand and I lost my temper. There is no way I can justify my actions. I have apologized to them for my actions.