Anat Lelior has chosen to use the “world” designation. Photo: WSL
The Israeli flag has largely disappeared from the World Surf League’s (WSL) website without any public explanation. When two-time Olympian Anat Lelior competed at last week’s Ballito Pro Challenger Series event, her country was listed as “World,” and her flag appeared as a plain white rectangle.
If you look through Lelior’s decade-long list of WSL results, the same “World” label has replaced what used to display her country, Israel. The same goes for other Israeli surfers. Ilay Bochan and Ido Hagag, for example, respectively ranked 24 and 15 on the men’s European Qualifying Series, also have the “World” designation assigned to their profiles and results.
When the WSL was contacted to clarify the protocol behind using the “World” label, they explained that the decision lies solely with the athletes.
“Athletes have the ability to request the designation they wish to support on the athlete jersey or rankings/seed lists as applicable, including the ‘World’ designation,” a WSL spokesperson said via email.
The statement aligns with comments made by Lelior in the Jerusalem Post, in which she asserted that she chose to remove her flag from the WSL site while competing in the Pro Taghazout Bay in Morocco due to security reasons.
Bochan and Hagag did not respond to requests to clarify their reasons behind using the “World” flag on the WSL site. In Hagag’s case, he is still listed as representing Israel on the International Surfing Association’s 2024 Junior Championship page with his bio stating, “I like to represent my country.”
The contrast underscores a distinction in surfing’s two main organizations: Israelis have opted to compete under their flag at team‑based ISA events but not at individual‑focused WSL contests. At the ISA Longboard Championships in April, Yonatan Amir flew the Israeli flag. Last year athletes openly competed for Israel at the Olympic‑qualifying ISA World Surfing Games as well as the ISA’s junior, para‑surfing, masters, and longboard championships. The flag remains visible on the respective webpage of each event.
Israeli surfers aren’t the first to compete under the “World” flag. Russian surfer Nikita Avdeev has used the designation at WSL events since 2022, after the ISA banned Russia from all competitions following its invasion of Ukraine. Unlike the ISA, the WSL allowed Avdeev to continue competing.
