A MAJOR row is brewing between the Minister for Sport, Bernard Allen, and the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) over proposed changes to the OCI's role within Irish sport.

The Olympic Council of Ireland has taken legal advice and is prepared to proceed with actions based on changes to its function as a distributor of public funds to prospective Olympic athletes.

The OCI sent two separate letters to the Minister on April 18th outlining in detail its objections to the workings of the newly formed Irish Sports Council. The OCI has also written to the Taoiseach, John Bruton, concerning the matter.

Responding to the OCI's position, Minister Allen told The Irish Times this week that he would proceed with all aspects of his plan.

"I am aware that they have threatened legal action, but what we will be doing is for the good of athletes, the athletes are our priority," he said. "It's not the politics of sports I am interested in.

"I believe we have very good people involved in the whole process, and people who have gone through the system themselves, and I believe, based on the information they have and the widespread consultation with sports bodies, that they can make informed and effective decisions."

Minister Allen launched his strategy document, Targeting Sporting Change in Ireland, on February 18th, and, amid a generally positive response to the document's far reaching proposals, the one discordant note was the cool response of the Olympic movement.

In the intervening weeks, the OCI has considered the document in detail, and prepared a long, internal memo on its merits and faults. As a result, the OCI has declined the offer of representation on a key funding group within the Irish Sports Council, and is considering legal action if any change is made to the OCI's traditional role in gathering and disbursing funds for Olympic athletes.

The new council, chaired by former Olympian John Treacy, wrote to the OCI on April 2nd inviting it to nominate a representative to sit on the new High Performance Advisory Committee, which will assume responsibility for identifying and funding elite athletes. The OCI considered the invitation at its meeting on April 15th and declined the offer.

In a letter sent to the Minister three days later, the OCI stated four reasons why it had taken its decision. The letter also stated that it has taken legal advice on the "role of the High Performance Advisory Committee, the Irish Sports Council, the structures and functions recommended in the sports strategy report to include funding procedures".

As a result of consultations with its legal counsel, the OCI believes "specific proposals infringe the law and the role agreed between the State and the Olympic Council of Ireland, to include the OCI's legitimate expectations and promises made by the State."

The OCI says it has been advised that constitutional and European Union issues arise from any change to its role. The OCI's legal advice is that the nomination of a representative from the council to sit on the High Performance Advisory Committee would legitimise structures which infringe both on the law and on the relationship between the council and the State.

The OCI also questions the objectivity of the proposed new body, contending that the Irish Sports Council's structure gives the Minister for Sport ultimate power to dispense all Government grants to sport, including those "to Olympic National Governing Bodies and Olympic hopefuls". In the OCI's view, this leaves the Irish Sports Council "open to the real possibility of having to accede to political pressure in the granting of aid".

The OCI further feels that it risks the possibility of compromise by becoming party to recommendations of the High Performance Advisory Committee regarding grant aid. The OCI states that athletes "may make assumptions and develop a legitimate expectation arising from the fact that an Olympic nominee sat on a committee where grant aid was promised or granted".

The OCI states that its mandate within Irish sport gives it a distinct role "which places it apart from the large proportion of the proposed activities of the sports council". As such, the OCI states that membership of the high performance committee would give the Olympic Council a position within a "low level" grouping where it could be outvoted on Olympic issues.

The OCI's concerns about the excessive bureaucracy of the proposed structures are again reiterated.

Minister Allen is adamant that the working of the Irish Sports Council generally and the high performance group specifically will not be interfered with. He states also that athletes have little to worry about.

"I am extremely disappointed that the OCI felt they should not be part of the process," he said. "However, the sports council will be making decisions based on detailed information which has been received from all of the federations and the Olympic Council itself. We thought they would become partners in the process, but obviously they have decided not to get involved. It's disappointing.

"The high performance group will deal with the federations which the athletes are a member of. They have, I understand, a lot of information from the federations themselves, and they can make very informed decisions which will be to the good of the athletes.

"The high profile issues are who gets what funding, but the most far reaching aspects are the development of a coaching system and the development of sport in schools and the appointment of recreation officers in areas," the Minister said.

A second letter sent by the OCI to Minister Allen (also on April 18th) relates to the Olympic Council of Ireland's application for grant aid for the first quarter of the Olympic cycle, which was submitted on April 8th. The council had received an undated letter from the Minister's private secretary giving "no indication as to when the funding sought will be available". As a result, the OCI, in its letter, expressed concern that the Minister intends to alter the funding mechanism that has existed between the OCI and the State since 1970.

It is stated that the OCI, "relying on State funding, the distribution system in existence since 1970 and commitment by you (Minister Allen)", had put into effect its programme for the Games in Sydney 2000. The OCI claims that the system whereby it was responsible for the collection and distribution of grant aid for Olympic Games and Olympic sports was "contractual or quasicontractual", and that the OCI had developed a "legitimate expectation" of a continuance of the present system of funding.

The Olympic Council of Ireland set in train a series of meetings with its 27 constituent bodies last September as part of the planning process for Sydney.

Yesterday the president of the OCI, Pat Hickey, said: "Minister Allen was fully aware that we had embarked on that process and raised no objection."

The council states in its letter that legal opinion has been sought, and, if it is the Minister's intention to alter financing structures, the OCI requires "to be advised immediately".

The OCI's legal advice sets out the grounds for a challenge to any change in funding procedures based on the "concept of vested interest, legitimate expectation and promissory estoppel". The OCI requires the Minister's immediate assurance of, and commitment to, the system of funding which has existed for the past 27 years.

For his part, meanwhile, Minister Allen is adamant that changes to the funding structure will continue as planned.

"It should come as no surprise to them that there are going to be changes, because I flagged it as far back as June of last year when I appointed a new sports council. I did say at the time that I was looking at all methods of funding to all the organisations and that I would be basing a lot of my decisions on the briefing document which was being prepared.

"All organisations were consulted in the development of the strategy. Some chose to get very much involved, others didn't get as involved as we wished," he said.

"I am disappointed that we couldn't act as partners, and the threats of legal action have no part in sport. I think we are all in it for sport. I am a sportsman. It's not about power, it's not about who controls, it's about all of us doing the best for the athlete.

"I don't want to get involved in personalities. We have brought sport a long way in two years. We have the plans and structures and people in there. They don't represent groups, they are there as individuals. Legal actions and threats like this have no part in sport," he said.