IOC CONGRESS: Three Olympic events have 48 hours to save themselves from being cast into a sporting wilderness when the 114th IOC Congress opens in Mexico City today.

Three months ago, the IOC programme commission headed by Italy's Franco Carraro produced a report which recommended that softball, baseball and modern pentathlon be thrown out of the 2008 Games in Beijing.

The three international sports federations were stunned by the damning report.

"The conclusions were plain and simply wrong. The whole report was flawed, but we were left fighting for our Olympic life," said International Softball Federation president Don Porter.

Tomorrow, the 120-odd IOC members at the congress will vote on the expulsion of the three sports.

In August, IOC president Jacques Rogge declared the executive board would make a recommendation to the rank and file members based on the Carraro report.

But a dramatic U-turn yesterday by Rogge, when he announced there would be no recommendation from the board, raised hopes among the threatened sports that they would remain in the Olympics and continue to benefit from the millions of dollars that membership of the Olympic club brings.

But if Rogge has decided not to push the call to throw sports out of the Olympics, he is determined to halt calls to bring back the controversial visits to bidding cities by members.

It was the visits that led to the votes-for-gifts Salt Lake City scandal in 1999. The end result was the expulsion of six IOC members and four others forced to resign.

It also led to the banning of IOC members visiting bid cities.

Rogge has made no secret of his desire to see the ban retained. "I don't think we should move the ban. I don't think that would be useful," insists the former orthopedic surgeon.

Meanwhile, organisers of the 2004 Athens Olympics moved closer to solving venue problems for the soccer tournament yesterday, announcing the historic Karaiskakis Stadium would be renovated in time for the Games.

Greek culture minister Evangelos Venizelos said the derelict ground in the port of Piraeus would be leased back to champions Olympiakos in return for restoration work to be completed by May 2004, just ahead of the Games' start on August 13th.

The Athens organisers have also revealed the Games' ticketing programme, with average prices as much as a third lower than those at the 2000 Games in Sydney.

ATHOC executive Marton Simitsek told reporters that 68 per cent of the total number of 5.3 million tickets that will be issued will cost up to €30, including VAT.

The average overall ticket price for the Athens Games will be €35, down from €53 in Sydney.