BEIJING, Aug 1: Media censorship, doping and chronic air pollution threatening the Beijing Olympics are among the main issues to be discussed when President Jacques Rogge and other top IOC officials meet this weekend for a final review ahead of the games’ opening.

The International Olympic Committee and the Chinese organizers are under fire for failing to deliver on pledges of unfettered access to the Internet, freedom to report and broadcast from China and clean air.

China had hoped the Beijing Olympics would showcase it as an open, rising power. But many facets of the games are contentious. Potential terrorist threats have been used to justify a stark security buildup that has smothered tourism in the face of 500,000 troops, local police, commandos and volunteers.

The latest event to tarnish the run-up to the games came this week when senior IOC member Kevan Gosper, head of the IOC press commission, backtracked on a promise made four months ago to lift Internet censorship for journalists during the games.

Television broadcasters have seen the organizers renege on similar promises, leading to battles over live TV coverage, the movement of satellite trucks and frequency allocations.

On Thursday, hinting at dissension inside senior ranks of the IOC, Gosper said that Rogge must have known about a deal with Chinese officials to censor Internet access for journalists covering the Beijing Olympics.

In an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday, Gosper said he was unaware of the changes until Tuesday when Beijing organizing committee spokesman Sun Wiede said journalists would have what he call only “sufficient access” to the Internet.

“I would be surprised if someone made a change without at least informing him (Rogge),” Gosper said. “But I really do not know the detail. This certainly isn’t what we guaranteed the international media and it’s certainly contrary to normal circumstances of reporting on Olympic Games.”

In the wake of the news that the Internet would be restricted during the games, US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack criticised China’s stance. “Before the Olympics and after the Olympics we have been proponents and advocates of freedom of speech and freedom of expression and universal human rights,” he said. “We have obvious differences with China on all of those issues.”

Rogge arrived on Thursday in Beijing, but declined to speak with reporters at the airport. He’s also likely to face sustained questioning from colleagues and reporters, having said repeatedly that foreign media would be able to work freely in China.

But this week reporters working at Olympic venues and the main press centre could not access sites for Amnesty International, for instance, or links to Tibet or information on the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.

Meanwhile, Beijing’s smoggy air has yet to clear after nearly two weeks of drastic pollution controls, which included removing half the cars from the city’s roads.

Officials are ready to apply additional “emergency measures,” that would include closing 100 more factories in Beijing, and about 115 more in Tianjin and surrounding Hebei province.

Rogge has warned that outdoor endurance events of more than one hour would be postponed if air quality were poor.

US men’s water polo coach Terry Schroeder said he noticed the pollution immediately when he arrived this week.

“Some of our guys have inherent breathing issues, and to put them in this environment - it’s worrisome for sure,” Schroeder said.

The IOC executive board opens a two-day meeting on Saturday at a central Beijing hotel, followed by a three-day session of the full general assembly starting on Tuesday.

The IOC meetings will also address the anti-doping programme for the games, which Olympic officials describe as the most rigorous and comprehensive in sporting history.—AP