Surfing from the age of three, Barbados surfer Josh Burke has many feathers under his cap. In 2013, he was the only surfer to represent his country at the 2013 Quicksilver King of the Groms in Hossegor, France. However, recently, Burke made headlines for his unprofessional behavior at the 2023 Pan American Surfing Games held from 21 to 30 April in Panama. As a result, the surfing authority in Barbados decided to debar him from participating in local surfing competitions this year.

On May 16, the surfing website Barbados Today confirmed about severe punishment that has come to Josh Burke. Following Burk’s fate, netizens also slammed him for his demeanor at the competition.

What did Josh Burke do at the prestigious surfing competition?

According to a report by Barbados Today, Josh Burke and his coach Allan Burke irresponsibly left their national duties at the 2023 Pan American Surfing Games. Their unprofessional behavior at the competition raised disciplinary concerns for Burke, the surfer in the country.

Hence, after profound discussions with Burke and the Barbados Olympic Association, Paul Bourne, President of the Barbados Surfing Association (BSA) told the news source, “The end result is we have decided to ban Josh with immediate effect from all surfing competitions locally for the rest of the year.”

Besides local competitions, Burke was also kicked out from the Barbados surfing squad which is preparing to fly to El Salvador in the next two weeks for the upcoming World Surfing Games.

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Learning about Josh Burke’s punishment, netizens slammed the surfer for his carefree attitude on Facebook.

Netizens furiously express their views on Burke’s penalization

As Josh Burke is a renowned WSL surfer, a Facebook user pointed out that he does not need to qualify for bigger championships through local participation, “Lol – He’s unlikely to be in Barbados for most of them anyhow so that’s hardly a slap. Plus he does not need to surf them as he’s automatically on every team and does not have to qualify through local events like all the other surfers.🙄”

Some netizens criticized Burke’s botherless attitude, “I don’t think he cares” and “Disgrace. They don’t give two wuckups.” Another netizen expressed that Burke should have been debarred for more years, “Shoulda been 3yrs”

One of the users pointed out the backlash Josh Burke has faced, “Such nasty comments. No debate, just hate 😢.”

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As of now, Burke has not commented anything about his punishment. Perhaps, things will be more clear in the public eye if he chooses to provide clarifications from his side.