Chapter 1237: Chapter 1235: 1234 restart the competition?

“We can only deal with the brawl, as for what happened on the field, that’s not within our scope, so you all need to negotiate a solution yourselves,” the police said, “But before that, you have to come with me to the police station and explain clearly the matter of your fight.”

The man in the orange shirt said with a smile, “Since the police comrades have spoken, we can’t disregard their wishes. Brothers, let’s go, we’ll take a trip to the police station!”

The police took away everyone involved in the brawl, leaving the competitors and the audience staring at each other, none of them having anticipated such an outcome.

Tan Rou found Tao Zhi and asked how the competition would proceed, to which Tao Zhi replied, “I don’t know, because by the time I got the notice, the police had already taken the people away.”

Tan Rou asked, “Were all the members of the organizing committee taken away?”

Tao Zhi answered, “Not all, but the two key personnel were taken, and the rest were called by the mayor for a meeting. With such a big incident this time, if Mayor Guo doesn’t handle it properly, his position as mayor will become unstable.”

First, it was the issue of shoddy construction in the city government building, and then the scandal at the sports meeting. Even if he wasn’t directly responsible for these, as the mayor, once he approved the projects and problems arose, he couldn’t shirk the responsibility.

“Mayor Guo also called us sponsors, saying he wants to invite us for dinner tonight, probably to discuss how to solve the problem,” said Tao Zhi. “When you go back later, help me take Tian Tian home, I have a meeting before dinner and won’t be able to join her.”

Tan Rou promised, “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure she gets home safely.”

With the situation having escalated to this point, the organizing committee didn’t even feel like announcing the results of today’s long-distance race, instead issuing a notice for all the athletes to wait for the results and cancelling several sports events scheduled for the next day, leaving it unknown when they would be held again.

In the evening, Mayor Guo hosted a banquet for the sponsors at the largest hotel in the Capital. Apart from the sponsors, there were also several members of the organizing committee; these individuals hadn’t been involved in the corruption case, so they hadn’t been arrested.

In the afternoon, many videos of the competition surfaced online with the rule-breakers’ faces enlarged and actions slowed down, making it easy to identify them.

Following this, a large group of athletes were taken away for investigation, and then it was the members of the organizing committee’s turn.

Mayor Guo looked as if he had aged ten years and wearily said, “I’m sure you all are aware of what happened today. I really can’t understand why there are people who would desecrate such a sacred sporting competition. Tell me, why do you think this happened?”

No one spoke; at this point, whatever they said would only bring trouble upon themselves. It was better to keep their mouths shut and listen to what others had to say.

Tao Zhi was here not to listen to Mayor Guo’s complaints but to inquire about the situation. “Mayor Guo, the incident has already happened, and it has also caused a significant impact online. I think arguing about the problem is pointless. It’s better to think about how to solve it,” he suggested.

Mayor Guo glanced at Tao Zhi and asked, “Chief Tao, what do you think should be done about this?”

Tao Zhi smiled slightly, “I’m just a businessman; I only know about doing business. If Mayor Guo needs investment, I would be very happy to provide you with the funds.”

Mayor Guo didn’t expect Tao Zhi to come up with a good solution; his conversation with him was purely to break the deadlock.

“Have you all become mute?” Mayor Guo said loudly. “The trouble this time is caused by you; don’t you think you should be responsible for solving it?”

The organizing committee members were like chickens with their throats squeezed, not uttering a sound for a long while. Mayor Guo had no patience to wait for them so he pointed to someone and said, “You, speak!”

The young man stood up reluctantly and said, “Mayor, I think… I think we could have a re-run of the race…”

Before Mayor Guo could speak, Tao Zhi interjected, “Are you making a joke? Let me ask you a question: if you ran five kilometers and it wasn’t counted, what would you think?”