It turns out that religious controversies surrounding the Olympic Games began even before the opening ceremony. Brazilian surfer Joao Chianca found this out when his surfboard, adorned with an image of Christ, was deemed a religious symbol. The athlete claimed he had to remove it to avoid being disqualified from the competition.
The story of the surfer is detailed on social media by the portal Diedsuddently. Joao Chianca shared it on his Instagram but eventually deleted the post.
According to Chianca, two weeks before the games, he received an order to remove the image of Jesus Christ from his surfboard, or else he would be excluded from the competition.
In the now-deleted Instagram story, Chianca commented that he is not authorized to place Jesus on his board because “Christ is a religious figure” and “the games have strict rules and focus on total neutrality.”
Although religious neutrality is indeed part of the games’ rules, many people point out that this rule is inconsistent with what was shown during the opening ceremony. “They violated their own rules,” wrote one internet user.
