Stand-off may end in court

ATHLETICS: The Olympic Council of Ireland's (OCI) Athletes' Commission are to meet tonight in the West County Hotel, Chapelizod, to decide what action to take following the OCI's decision not to recognise them following a series of disputes over the last 12 months.

Among the issues the commission will discuss is whether they should take the OCI to the European Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne. The commission have already written to the former Olympic and world pole vault champion, Sergey Bubka, the chairman of the International Olympic Committee's Athletes' Commission. His advice was that if the two parties, the OCI and Irish athletes, cannot come to an agreement, then they should proceed with the case to Lausanne.

The OCI will not discuss the issue, claiming that possible legal action against the athletes' commission, or a member of it, prevents them from speaking out publicly. The commission, which was set up by the OCI after the Sydney Games to be a link between athletes and the OCI and to liaise with the OCI to ensure the athletes' aims are met, say they have been unable to carry out any of their functions.

They claim the OCI refused to fund them and that they were instructed not to seek sponsorship. They also claim when the commission approached the Irish Sports Council, chief executive John Treacy said he would provide €10,000 for running costs and expenses but that the grant could only be delivered through the OCI, a normal procedure.

However, the OCI informed the Irish Sports Council that they would not draw the money because of the difficulties they were having with respect to the athletes' commission, leaving the commission without resources and no means of getting any.

They also claim OCI meetings are often held at short notice and only Terry McHugh, the athlete voted onto the OCI, can attend. McHugh is living in Switzerland, thus the costs of attending the Dublin meetings are prohibitive.

"We believe the dispute can be resolved," said athletes' secretary Paul Donovan, a veteran of the Los Angeles and Barcelona Games. "But there has to be good faith on both sides. Going the route of CAS would be a last option but, yes, it is a route that we will have to explore."

The irony of the impasse is that following the Sydney Games the recommendations of the Sydney Review, which was undertaken following much acrimony from Irish athletes in Sydney, and the High Performance Strategy, set up by the Irish Sports Council, focused on athletes' needs and the best way of preparing them for future Games. The polarisation seems certain to damage athletes primarily.