Organisers of the Special Olympics in Dublin in June have established a working group to revise plans for the games in the event of a war in Iraq.
Ms Mary Davis, chief executive of the games organisation, said yesterday that if there was a war, athletes from the United States and some parts of the Middle East would not travel.
Some 1,200 athletes from the US are due to take part in the games, with about 1,000 more from parts of the Middle East. A total of 7,000 athletes are scheduled to arrive in Ireland on June 16th, and the loss of the US team would be regarded as a blow to the organisers. The games themselves begin on June 22nd.
A spokesman for the games said last night that "as of now" the games as planned were still on.
"We will just have to monitor the situation. In the event of some countries' athletes being unable to attend, the games will go ahead as planned. There is no question of postponing them," he said..
"Obviously we would all be extremely disappointed, but the games will go on."
He stressed that there had been no indication from any of the participant countries of doubt about coming to Ireland.
"There has been no discussion, no indication at all from any country that they are having doubts about people coming. We have just set up this group to monitor the situation, to be prepared for any eventuality."
Some 166 countries' athletes are due to take part in the Special Olympics. Athletes, coaches and families arrive in the week before to stay with host families in towns throughout the country.
The US team is due to stay in Belfast before travelling to Dublin with the other teams for the opening ceremony in Croke Park on June 21st.
Competitions begin the following day with 18 official sports and three demonstration sports, staged in 24 locations throughout the city. Belfast is due to host the roller-skating event in the Morton stadium.
This is the first time the World Games have been staged outside the United States since their inception in 1968.
The loss of the US team would be a blow to the games organisers and also to Belfast which, as well as losing the opportunity to host 1,200 olympians, their coaches and families, would lose the considerable revenue their presence would be expected to generate.
It is estimated that each group of four people around each athlete would spend about €2,000 during their visit.
