It's because where he's from. The problem is that he cannot just show up at the embassy, he has to give them the invitation letter and he has to do this at least 15 days before his trip. The consulate cannot guarantee that he'll get his passport back in less than 10 days, though the process, officially is 4 to 15. He actually has to present a mountain of documents apart from his passport - filled in forms, photographs, medical insurance, photocopies of the first three pages of passport pages with previous Schengen visas, since he is a resident of the US he'd have to enclose that, return tickets, proof of being able to financially support himself, proof of confirmed accommodation and since he's traveling for work, a sporting event, the invitation letter I mentioned. I doubt anything has changed since the last time I watched my friend from EE get all this together. To top that off, none of this guarantees he'll get a visa.