LOS ANGELES, California (Thursday, July 18, 2019) - The World Surf League (WSL) today announced the appointment of Ivan Martinho as General Manager of the WSL Latin America region, overseeing operations and business development across Latin America and reporting directly to CEO Sophie Goldschmidt.
"There's fantastic momentum in surfing right now and to appoint someone of Ivan's caliber to our Latin America GM position complements the already-stellar team we have in region." Sophie Goldschmidt, WSL CEO, said. "Ivan's background is ideal to advancing our mission in the region and to optimize the interest we're seeing. The recent Oi Rio Pro was one of the most successful Champion Tour events we've had."
Martinho has spent the past 23 years in working in Sport and Entertainment across Brazil and the Americas, recently holding positions as VP of Ad Sales for Fox Networks Groups, a Walt Disney Company, out of Brazil and serving as CEO of Flix Media in South America.
"I'm a huge fan of sports and over the last 10 years, I have had the opportunity to be directly involved with the majority of the main sporting events across Latin America in this decade including FIFA World Cup 2014, Copa América Chile 2015, Rio 2016 Olympics and others," Martinho said. "Surfing is a fast growing sport globally, it's no different in Latin America. I see a tremendous opportunity with the athletes, media partners and sponsors to leverage our position as one of the most desired and respected sports of the region."
Martinho will work closely with VP of Events for Latin America Xandi Fontes and the WSL Latin America regional team in overseeing the Tours, Studios and WaveCo initiatives in Latin America.
The world's best surfers are currently competing at the Corona J-Bay Open in South Africa.
For more information, check out WorldSurfLeague.com