WINTER OLYMPICS: The head of the French delegation to the Winter Olympics has vigorously denied implicating a French judge in an alleged vote-trading deal in the pairs figure skating competition.

"I totally reject the interpretation placed on words attributed to me," Didier Gailhaguet, head of the French Olympic delegation, said in a statement released by the French National Olympic Committee.

The vote-trading allegations centre on Marie-Reine Le Gougne, one of nine officials who judged the pairs competition on Monday.

Unsubstantiated reports allege the French woman sided with former Eastern bloc judges in a deal to deprive Canadians Jamie Sale and David Pelletier of the Olympic title, which went to the Russia's Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze.

Gailhaguet, also the French skating federation president, was widely reported yesterday as saying that the judge was "emotionally fragile" and had been put under pressure.

"Some people close to the judge have acted badly and have put someone who is honest and upright, but emotionally fragile, under pressure," he was quoted as saying.

The International Skating Union is to hold an investigation into the judging of the pairs competition next Monday, but the all-powerful International Olympic Committee (IOC) has demanded swifter action.

IOC chief Jacques Rogge wanted the affair resolved by the end of the day, according to an IOC source.

The source said that Rogge had made the demand directly to the president of the International Skating Union (ISU), Ottavio Cinquanta.

So far Cinquanta has stubbornly resisted pressure to act before Monday's meeting of sport's ruling council.

The scandal over the pairs result broke out almost immediately after the five to four decision by the judges to award the gold to the Russians.

The American, German, Canadian, and Japanese judges voted for Sale and Pelletier, while Russia, Poland, Ukraine, China and France went for the Russians.

According to one account, under the terms of the vote trade the East bloc would swing behind French couple, Gwendal Peizerat and his Russian-born partner Marina Anissina, for today's ice dance competiton.

French Olympic Committee president Henri Serandour declined to comment on the growing controversy, and Le Gougne is under strict instructions from the ISU to say nothing.

Canada has lodged an appeal against the judging, which was scheduled to be considered by ISU's council at its Monday meeting.

Rather than strip the Russian pair of the gold medal, Canadian Olympic Committee president Michael Chambers is reportedly proposing that a second gold medal should be awarded to Sale and Pelletier.

Cinquanta has said that it would be difficult to revise the result of the pairs competition after the event, but IOC sources said the Canadian proposal for a second gold medal could be considered.

Adding fuel to the scandal, Cinquanta confirmed on Wednesday that American referee Ronald Pfenning had delivered an official complaint of wrong-doing against one of the judges who gave the title to the Russian duo.

Cinquanta said he had spoken to the accused judge, who he refused to name, and put the charges to him or her.

"I have an allegation, not proof, I have a denial," said Cinquanta.

"I was and am embarrassed. I regret that we have had a loss of credibility," he said.

Sanctions would be "severe" if wrongdoing were proved, he added.

Controversy is nothing new to figure skating, caught halfway between sport and art and in which judging is often highly subjective.

Four years ago at the Nagano Olympics, Russia, Canada and France were engaged in a similar dispute with allegations that Canadians Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz had been deprived of a medals in a French-Russian deal favouring their skaters.

Various former champions have spoken out in Salt Lake about judging, many saying that vote-trading is common in the sport, one of the most popular on the Winter Olympic schedule.

Influential IOC member Dick Pound believes the Olympics have been damaged by the controversy.

Pound, a former IOC vice-president, described the pairs result as "particularly disappointing".

"People think it's the fault of the Olympics, instead of the judges from the ISU. That's bad for us," Pound said. "We've put the burden back on the ISU. Asked them: 'What are you guys going to do?'. We've put them on the fast track."