IOC offers last chance for Iraq

Iraq had hoped to take part in five different sports

There is a slim chance that Iraqi athletes could take part in the Beijing games, the International Olympic Committee has said.

The IOC has banned Iraq from taking part because the government replaced the country's Olympic committee with its own appointees.

But if Iraq reverses the decision, it could yet meet Wednesday's registration deadline for athletics events.

Iraqi officials have indicated they are not prepared to back down on the issue.

An adviser for the Ministry of Youth and Sport, Basil Abdul Mahdi, said there would be "no retreat" over May's decision to replace the Olympic Committee.

The government said the previous committee was corrupt and had not been functioning properly.

Under the IOC charter, all committees must be free of political influence.

Iraq's seven-strong team was banned from the Games on Thursday, but the IOC has said there is still a chance that two athletes could take part, if the government reinstates the committee.

An IOC spokeswoman, Emmanuelle Moreau, said the deadline for finalising athletics competitors is Wednesday. It means Iraq still has the chance to send its discus thrower and sprinter to the Games.

However, the door remained closed to the other five team members, as registration deadlines for archery, judo, rowing and weightlifting had already passed, the IOC spokeswoman said.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the IOC said it was "disappointed they have been so ill-served by their own government's actions".

It added that the Iraqi government had previously invited Iraq to come to its headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland to discuss solutions, but Iraq had failed to respond "positively".

Iraq's Olympic hopefuls have expressed disappointment at the ban.

"I was so depressed after I got the news that we would be deprived from participating in the Olympic games in Beijing 2008," said Hamzah Hussein, 32, one of two rowers who had hoped to head to China.

"It seems that we are paying the price for the current conflict in the Iraqi sport scene."