Is the Brazilian skateboarding ready to be represented by any roller sports federation?

The answer is absolutely NO!

The question arose over a real problem that not only the Brazil faces now, but almost all the countries around this world when we mix two important new subjects: Skateboarding and Olympic Games

In accordance with all the Ethical Code of International Olympic Committee, as well with the Olympic Charter, the International Skateboarding Federation was established to provide direction and governance to the sport while upholding the culture, authenticity and lifestyle to IOC and since then they are working hard to see it happen. 

During the Rio Olympic Games, in august 2016, the IOC confirmed that Skateboarding is going to be a new sport and it will happen in the next Olympic Games, in Tokyo/Japan 2020.

This announcement split the Skateboarding community between that ones who consider Skateboarding a lifestyle and, on the other hands, that ones who see a great opportunity to presenting as a sport. 

The first half came out against the idea and raised a fist against the decision. They preach about keep the skateboarding as a lifestyle. We have to agree with them: Skateboarding has always had it own rules and always stayed a underground sport, Olympics will not change it. Fact.

We also have to agree that these guys will not be at the Olympics, not only about the hate speech, but because they really don't care about this amazing event and just live the lifestyle of skateboarding. They don't see what they do as a sport. Once again, another fact and no problem. 

The other half, including the skateboarders whom compose the board of International Skateboarding Federation, they do believe that Skateboarding can be well represented in Tokyo, bringing a brand new audience to the most important sporting event in the world.

Besides their beliefs, the fact that Skateboarding was always kept underground, many countries around the world never developed federations or representative organizations. The announcement that Tokyo will hold Skateboarding as a new sport caught them off-guard.

It's not easy to assemble, develop, and build a federation in a few months, but the ISF still works hard to help the countries to do this important act, but sadly the IOC has some internal procedures that must be followed.

The highest organization of sport in the world needs that some international federation, who represents at least 90 countries in the world, to rule and take care of any new sport in Olympics. 

The FIRS (Federation international of Roller Sports) already match with the IOC rules, but since the creation of ISF they are building a good relationship with the skateboarders and respecting the agreements that they are talking and developing for the last years, since the born of ISF. 

Besides all the upon facts the Brazilian Olympic Committee, trying to suppress a "lack of representation" and disregarding a hard job that CBSK (Brazilian Confederation of Skateboarding) have been doing for almost 20 years in Brazil just awarded the CBHP (Brazilian Confederation of Hockey and Roller-skate) to take care and ruling the next steps of Skateboarding in Brazil, as an Olympic sport. 

Although, this lack of representation never had existed and the skateboarders never lived in a gap of rules or administration. 

The CBSK has been developing the skateboard in Brazil since 1999 (exactly when the whole world started to see the Brazilian skaters on the covers of the main magazines), organizing national and international contests, ranking the skateboarders and their categories, validating international and national events, giving training to the judges who are also used in international contests, approving and validating the skaters in Brazil to turn professionals and also doing the mediation to the athlete-scholarship between amateurs skateboarders and the Ministry of Sports in Brazil.

It's not easy to see all the hard job slipping through their fingers and being delivered to roller-skatering associations that not even had the Skateboarding in their Bylaws or in their contracts.

The CBHP (Brazilian Confederation of Hockey and Roller-skate) just inserted the skateboarding on the bylaws of the institution trying to validate a misunderstanding decision of Brazilian Olympic Committee and this is turning the whole international skateboarding community crazy.

Supported by all the professional skateboarders in Brazil and all around the world, the CBSK started a huge campaign trying to show to the BOC and IOC that skateboard has to be represented by those who always represent and took care of skateboarding in Brazil, in other words the own CBSK. 

Skateboarders, big entrepreneurs and all the community are posting and sharing in social media and even the tv shows, texts and many things with the hashtag #somostodosCBSK, it means "we are all CBSK", beside the fact that they are promising a boycott to the Olympics if the CBSK don't be the representative body of skateboarders of Brazil.

It's important to highlight that skateboarders aren't building a war against the roller-skaters, but only with the fact that CBHP doesn't represent the Skateboarding now and will never do it. 

In light of the foregoing, the CBHP tried to explain why the BOC took the decision, using the Olympic Charter etc, but the opportunism of them broke out when, overnight, they announced a "pre-Olympic" contest of skateboarding, using third parts videos, songs and images (all from the Street League Skateboarding), showing , once again, that they don't have any connection with the skateboarding environment.

The BOC also made a statement through the executive-director, Mr. Agberto Guimarães, during an interview for a specialized sport journal in Brazil (Lance), saying that the decision was took over the international rules of representation and they are totally opened to follow any other recommendation from the IOC, as long as the CBSK fits perfectly into the rules, providing and delivering all the regular documents to represent the skateboarders.

The legal department of CBSK headed by Fernando "Nando" Tassara and Alexandre "Birds" Costa also registered a petition to the Ethics and Compliance department of IOC exposing all the above facts, as well explaining that the BOC didn't follow and support the negotiations and agreements between ISF, FIRS and IOC.

Meanwhile the CBSK and skateboarders addressed an undersigned to the President of BOC asking to review his decision and promote the real development of Olympic skateboarding in Brazil, supporting them as the real board of representatives of skateboarding in Brazil, as well recognize them for all the hard work that they are doing for almost 20 years in their country.

Today, January 30th of 2017, supporting this fact, the ISF released a letter giving all the reason and support to the CBSK and the Brazilian skateboarders and showing an immense admiration for all the passion, love and professionalism that CBSK and skateboarders are handling this awkward situation.

Backing to the top of this article, re-reading the exposed question, we are truly right that Skateboarding must be represented by the real skateboarders organizations in all countries and we do believe that the Brazilians skaters had stand up for something really important to the Olympic Games, sharing to the world that we are CITIUS, ALTIUS, FORTIUS (Faster, Higher and Stronger).

About the author: Alexandre A. Costa (Costa, A. A.) is a friend, Brazilian attorney, blogger, professor, president of the Sports Court of the Brazilian Confederation of Skateboarding (CBSK), with a degree in Legal and Social Sciences, specialist in Labor Law and Labor Process, Specialist in Sports Law and Comparative Law, Master of Business Administration in Business Law, skateboarding events organizer and happy to be a skateboarder since 1981.