Czech Olympic team loses one member

Vancouver, Feb 8 (CTK) - The Czech Olympic team will have one member fewer than originally as the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic Games (VANOC) removed one accreditation from the bobsleigh team, Frantisek Dvorak, head of the Czech mission, said in the official report Monday.

As a result, the bobsleigh team will have eight, not nine members. In all, 92 Czech athletes can compete in Vancouver, Dvorak said.

It was Vladimir Hladik who lost the chance of taking part in the Olympics, he added.

"VANOC has made a big mistake when pointing to the discrepancy only the day before yesterday. As a result, Hladika came her uselessly," Dvorak said, adding that the Czech bobsleigh association made a mistake, too.

"It ought to have checked with the international federation whether it was entitled to nine places. It is very unpleasant, but the rules of participation in the Olympic games are strict," Dvorak said.

VANOC representatives only told the Czech team about the mistake five days after the bobsleigh team was accredited. Hladik has already left the Olympic village and moved to Whistler, Dvorak said.

He is to stay in Canada and play the role of a substitute, he added.

Czechs will have two four-man and one two-man bobsleigh teams in the Olympic race.