AS Irish sporting rows go, it at least deserves a bronze. Pat Hickey, the president of the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI), accused John Treacy, the chief executive of the Irish Sports Council (ISC), of threatening and intimidating his organisation just days before the Beijing Olympics.

The allegation was made after Treacy accused Hickey of “a lack of courtesy” towards his agency.

A series of letters between the two leading sports bodies, most of which were released under the Freedom of Information Act, reveal the unseemly behind-the-scenes row that erupted when Treacy, a former silver-medal winner, was not given accreditation by the OCI to attend the Games.

The correspondence also reveals that tensions have existed between two of Ireland’s most senior sports administrators since the late 1990s when Hickey, whose agency oversees Ireland’s participation in the Olympics, believed his organisation was being ignored by the ISC.

Treacy’s agency oversees the running of sport in Ireland and provides funds to the OCI, but the letters show that Hickey has been unhappy with the support it receives.

On July 22, Hickey wrote to Treacy asking about his plans to travel to Beijing so that he could invite the former Olympian “to some events and functions”. The OCI had given a number of accreditations to Martin Cullen, the minister for sport, for his office’s use, but had not given one to Treacy.

The chief executive of the ISC responded curtly on July 29 informing Hickey that he had made his own travel plans for Beijing. “Your belated gesture is an extension of the lack of courtesy that you have displayed towards the Irish Sports Council,” he wrote. “It is a matter that we will consider after the conclusion of the Games.”

Treacy’s letter was taken as a threat by Hickey, who sent a seething reply on July 31, a copy of which was sent to Cullen. Hickey accused Treacy of misunderstanding the accreditation process and said government figures got priority on passes for the Games.

“I note that you propose to deal with the OCI’s preference of government in an unorthodox and arbitrary manner. In the past the OCI have complained about threats made by you to our affiliated sports. The OCI will not countenance intimidation as suggested by you in any shape or form,” Hickey wrote.

“For the avoidance of doubt the OCI will rely on your letter as evidence of malicious intent on the part of the ISC, should you or the ISC seek to deprive the OCI of its legitimate entitlement.”

Yesterday the ISC said it did not want to comment. Jack McGouran, an OCI spokesman, agreed that the documents show there were “issues between it and the ISC” but he claimed they did not affect the subsequent performance of athletes in the Games, at which Ireland won three medals for boxing.

In their own private sparring match, Hickey referred to Treacy’s correspondence as “unfortunate” and said he was copying in the minister because the ISC chief was “attempting to usurp government entitlement to appropriate facilities”.

When The Sunday Times revealed last August that Treacy had not been given accreditation for the Games, the sports council said he should have been because of its professional relationship with the athletes and sporting bodies.

Earlier correspondence on June 3 from Hickey to Treacy, also copied to Cullen, gives the OCI president’s analysis of why the two sporting bodies have not got on well. Hickey claimed it was due to a sequence of events which began in 1996.

“I am happy to note that you recognise our relationship is not what it should be and issues remain unresolved,” Hickey wrote.

He claimed that when the sports council was established in the late 1990s the role of the OCI was “completely ignored, unconsidered and totally dismissed by your good self and the ISC”.

He said that when A New Era for Sport, a development blueprint , was launched at Dublin Castle both he and the OCI were “reduced to the role of spectator” while others were given “podium prominence”. He said the OCI was ignored in the run-up to the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and complained it was not receiving enough financial support from the ISC.

There is also tension between the two bodies over plans to review Ireland’s participation in Beijing. The OCI has hired consultants to carry out its own review, but has “yet to decide” if it will partake in an official review being overseen by the ISC.

Times Recommends

• Congo's rangers risk their lives to guard gorillas
• Pearl farming in China losing its lustre
• Axl Rose mystery as album arrives at last