WHILE the election of the OCI president for the next four years is the most important item on the agenda this evening, there will also be votes to fill the four other officers' positions as well as five ordinary places on the executive committee.

The meeting is scheduled to begin at 8.0 p.m., and, after what should be a brief discussion of the minutes of last year's a.g.m., there will be an opportunity for the outgoing officers to make reports to the delegates present.

The elections will then be held in order of importance, with the presidency coming first to be followed by first vice president and so on. There are 27 sports federations affiliated to the OCI, but hockey and shooting get only one vote each even though they are affiliated separately for their men's and women's associations. As a result, the governing bodies hold a total of 25 votes.

The 10 executive committee members, five ordinary plus the outgoing officers, have one vote each, while former IOC member Dr Kevin O'Flanagan also has one vote.

A simple majority is enough for victory, so 19 is the target for candidates in straight contests for an officership. The five candidates with the most votes from the 16 candidates for the five ordinary positions will be elected.

Those 16 include six candidates who are also running for an officer's position (including David Balbirnie) who, if elected the first time around, will drop out of the running for the committee.