Stephen looked frantic, and he said anxiously, “I just received a call from the CEO of the American Track and Field Association, Mr. Williams. According to him, the IAAF might not allow Phillip to take part in the world championship.”
“Has the IAAF already issued a public statement disallowing Phillip from participating in the world championship?” Dai Li asked immediately.
Stephen shook his head. “It’s inside information the American Track and Field Association heard from the IAAF. It probably won’t be long until it becomes the truth.”
“Why? Is it because Phillip is disabled again?” Dai Li asked.
“No! In the rules and regulations of the World Championship in Athletics, no rule prohibits para-athletes from participating in the competition.” Stephen shook his head.
“Then what’s their reason for prohibiting Phillip from participating?” Dai Li asked.
“It might be the prosthesis,” Stephen answered.
Dai Li frowned and said, “From what I know, athletes are allowed to wear sports equipment during races, like high tech running shoes or shark skin-like swimsuits in swimming competitions.”
“That’s right, but the IAAF thinks that Phillip’s prosthesis has exceeded the definition of ‘sports equipment.’ They think that Phillip’s Flex-Foot Cheetah prosthesis gives Phillip unfair advantages, affecting the fairness of the competition.” Stephen lowered his voice and asked, “Coach Li, tell me the truth. Are Phillip’s prostheses elastic, and do they provide him with extra help?”
“Everything has some form of elasticity; some are more elastic while others are less elastic.” Dai Li chose a more roundabout answer.
Stephen seemed to understand what Dai Li meant. He said, “Whether or not they allow Phillip to participate is all in the hands of the IAAF. They have the final right of interpretation, and that is exactly what is disadvantageous to us. If they decide to deny Phillip the right to participate, then even I can’t do anything.”
“But the IAAF should at least find an appropriate reason,” Dai Li responded. “If I remember correctly, the IAAF will not be able to find any clear limitation on high tech equipment support for contestants in the current sports law.”
“Which means that when it comes to the rules, we are in a favorable situation.” Stephen’s spirit lifted slightly, and he continued, “Why don’t we do the same thing we did against the American Track and Field Association? We can go to the journalists, or we can organize some protests.”
Dai Li shook his head. “The IAAF is an international athletics management organization. The management team and decision makers come from all over the world, and among them, most remain in the organization only to safeguard the rights of their national athletes. Their work style can be described in only one way; they avoid making mistakes at all cost. Their decisions are usually very conservative. They are afraid of taking responsibility, so even if there is only a slight possibility of a problem arising, they will not want to take the risk.”
“I understand. Phillip is a disabled person. Letting him participate means that the competition will undergo a ‘change,’ and that is precisely what these bureaucratic old farts don’t want to see,” Stephen asked.
The change could bring about three kinds of results. Things could get better, get worse, or nothing could change.
For a decision maker, it would be natural to applaud when things got better; if no change occurred, it meant that the decision was useless. However, if things got worse, then it was indeed a wrong decision.
From the perspective of a decision maker, there was a one in three chance the change would be good. Whether it was a useless or wrong decision, someone had to take responsibility, and that was why most people would rather continue to “rule without achievements” than to reform drastically.
And for an international organization such as the International Association of Athletics Federation, reform was extremely difficult. If it were poorly done, not only would someone have to bear the responsibility, he would be scolded by the entire world. So on the matter of Phillip, the International Association of Athletics Federation would make the most conservative decision. They did not want to change.
Dai Li continued and said, “Regarding the rules of participation, Phillip has no problem. As soon as the IAAF makes the decision, we can make an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Using that might get us better results, but it would take a long time, perhaps one or two years, maybe even three to five years. Although this would garner some attention, the effect would be far less significant than having Phillip participate in the World Championship in Athletics.”
“Yeah. Going to court wastes a lot of time, and even if we won, our losses would be far greater.” Stephen nodded his head.
“Going to the Court of Arbitration for Sport is the last resort. In truth, the biggest problem faced by the IAAF is whether they want to ensure the participation rights of the individual athlete, or if they want to ensure the fairness of the competitive environment. They have to make a choice between the two. The law would support the former, so what we need to do now is to dispel their fears on the latter,” Dai Li said.
“I understand what you mean, but I still don’t know what we have to do,” Stephen stated.
“Simply put, the IAAF believes that Phillip’s prostheses have affected the fairness of the competition. Thus, all we need to do is prove that Phillip’s prostheses do not affect the fairness of the competition, and even if Phillip were to participate in the world championship, the competition would still remain fair,” Dai Li explained.
“But how do we prove that Phillip’s prostheses won’t affect the fairness of the competition?” Stephen asked.
“Everything starts from the Flex-Foot Cheetah prosthesis. We can directly deny the prosthesis provides Phillip with any additional advantage, but in truth, that is an idiotic method, because it wouldn’t be able to withstand the scrutiny of science. That is why we should focus on the other point. We have to prove that while running, the prosthesis does not have an advantage over real legs.” Dai Li’s expression grew calmer by the second; he had thought of a countermeasure.
In the following second, Dai Li switched his tone and asked, “There are several major universities in California, right?”
“You mean…” Stephen had guessed Dai Li’s intention.
“Yes.” Dai Li smiled as he nodded. “Go and find a reputable specialist, offer them research funding and ask them to prove that a prosthesis doesn’t have more advantage than a pair of legs while running. For example, a prosthesis would have limited explosive power, and the prosthesis would have limited joint flexibility, etc. Proving this won’t be difficult for them, and if the research fee is right, it should be easy to get a report we need from those experts.”
“Alright, I’ll go find a few reputable schools,” Stephen promised with a nod.
“This has to be fast. The faster, the better. We have to get reports that are beneficial to us and use the media to help spread them around. This time, we need to make the pre-emptive strike!” Dai Li said with a smile.