By Harry Peart BBC sports correspondent in Mexico City

Controversial plans to drop three sports from the Olympic Games are to be discussed by officials from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Tuesday.

An IOC report recommended that baseball, softball and modern pentathlon should be removed from the Olympic programme.

The full IOC membership will vote on the proposal on Friday.

Stephanie Cook (r) and Kate Allenby won medals in a sport devised by the creator of the modern Olympics

But the issue is already at the centre of a major controversy within the Olympic movement.

The future of the three sports is threatening to overshadow the five days of meetings called to discuss a wide range of Olympic reforms.

The IOC president, Jacques Rogge, appears to be trying to rush through the removal of the sports in time for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

Advice from the Court of Arbitration for Sport has been taken and Mr Rogge believes the rules, which insist that seven years are needed before the removal of a sport can take place, can be changed.

The sports involved have been fighting back.

Baseball and softball - popular in North America and Asia - have the backing of many sponsors.

'Olympic soul' at risk

Modern pentathlon occupies a special place in the Olympic movement - the sport was created by the founder of the modern Olympics, Baron Pierre de Coubertin.

The president of the sport's federation, Klaus Schormann, says to vote out the sport would be against the soul of the IOC.

The three sports under attack have been backed by the federation which looks after the 28 Olympic sports.

It is unhappy at the way the matter is being handled, leaving all the sports in a vulnerable position.

Many rely on the Olympics for their entire funding.

Until the vote of all the members is taken on Friday, the issue remains a major problem for the IOC president and his authority.