As reluctant as I am to find myself in the middle of this rather awkward argument, I think the whole subject is important enough to offer some words of explanation for Ciavarella's post.
Firstly it's important to point out that he is both extremely passionate and serious about the subject but also an ironic and irreverent personality. The results are often quite spectacularly awful, as in this case.
Secondly, as far as I can tell, there is some history of strong disagreement between the authoritarian world of organized international sport (CMAS) and the free-spirited freedivers that make up AIDA. The apparently unprovoked outburst makes more sense when put in this context.
I will now TRY to interpret the essence of what CMAS is trying to say. I don't necessarily agree with all of their rules, but I do at least empathise with the reasoning. I've paraphrased and simplified and embellished what Ciavarella has said during the exchange of several mails, so it may not be perfectly accurate.
Tylerz was right when he said that many of the CMAS decisions are simply the implementation of IOC regulations. In many ways, CMAS is bound to behave in this way. I think I explained in a previous post that this had 4 main motivations :
1. In the interest of developing apnea as a sport (hopefully an olympic one), the IOC describes a strict set of rules that must be absolutley standardized from country to country. I think there are 140 countries with organizations affiliated to CMAS and if the framework of rules was too loose, there would be absolute chaos. I suppose that it's the same problem that AIDA has resolved by having a central pool of judges that are dispatched (and often overruled) by a central Wizard of Oz.
2. As part of the 'sportification' of freediving, CMAS has decided to standardize on JB and dynamic for their merits as spectator sports. The idea is that only a finite number of people are ever going to get excitied about someone lying motionless in a pool for 6 or 7 minutes, but hopefully the chosen disciplines have a chance of gaining momentum.
3. The general feeling amongst the CMAS guys is that CB is beautiful but too dangerous. I guess that experienced mid-level divers (like most of us) are less at risk. The danger lies with the newbies 'getting out of their depth' (bad for the development of the sport) and the elite guys whose extreme depths create increased risk.
CMAS not only chooses to stop their own CB competitions, but to 'protect' their athletes "even from themselves" (as Ciavarella puts it). In my opinion this is partially an attempt to 'build a team' but mainly a legal legacy from past litagation brought against the IOC.
4. Finally, if an athlete wants to officially represent his country in an International competition then he is bound by an agreement between his government and the IOC that requires the organization to be made by CMAS. You can't say that you played for England at soccer, just because you took part in an international event - it has to be FIFA to organize it.
Ciavarella says that he understands that not everyone will agree with this position (especially with respect to the CB decision) and that they would never try to stop other organizations from setting up CB comps. He is also aware that this will result in some of the most passionate and skillful freedivers shunning CMAS. As much as it would be nice to have a unified organization for both sporting and recreational purposes, he feels that it is unlikely to happen.
The CMAS position on AIDA is a completely neutral one. The two organizations can happily coexist - there just cannot be any mix-and-match from the athletes.
On the question of tolerating CB at a National level, this is recognized as inconsistent, and is unlikely to continue indefinitely.
CMAS also apparently understands the sacrifice that its athletes will have to make. One of the great things about freediving is the chance we all have to meet and compete with the greatest divers on earth. Most of us who have been to an AIDA event have dived alongside Nitzsch, Misfud, Fattah, Stapanek, Carrera, Topi, etc and it would be a tragedy to 'lose' such important points of reference. Although the CB/JB argument may never come to an end, Ciavarella is sure that within 3 or 4 years there will be a dynamic championship that will bring AIDA and CMAS athletes together in competition.
In my opinion, the easiest way to understand the driving force behind the CMAS message is to remember that there is a big difference between an official sport and a recreational activity - even one whose proponents are the very best in the world.
Ciao
Al