ATHENS, Nov 14: Seven sports, bidding for two places on the Olympic Games programme, made their pitch to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Friday hoping to make the cut next year.

Karate, golf, squash, rugby, roller sports, baseball and softball are battling it out for two spots on the programme starting from the 2016 Olympic Games.

“It is crucial that the top organisations in golf are behind our effort and the commitment of top players is equally important,” Peter Dawson, Chief Executive of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, said after his presentation to the IOC Programme Commission in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Golf’s pitch included videos featuring, among others, men and women’s world number one Tiger Woods and Lorena Ochoa backing the sport’s Olympic aspirations.

Top squash officials submitted their own Olympic pledge, a poster signed by top players committing themselves to the Games, to the IOC President Jacques Rogge.

The IOC, which will vote on the existing 26 sports on the programme and the inclusion of two more at its session in Copenhagen next October, has said top players’ Olympic participation was a prerequisite for consideration.

Following the presentations on Friday, two IOC observers will monitor the sports for six months and attend one event of each before reporting back to the IOC executive board.—Reuters