Athletics: Sonia O'Sullivan and James Nolan are among about a dozen athletes appealing the Irish Sports Council's decision to remove them from the international carding scheme, thus depriving them of grant aid for the coming year.

Athletes across all sports have until close of business this evening to submit any appeal regarding the Sports Council's surprise reduction or withdrawal of grant aid for 2005, which caused considerable discontent when announced earlier this month.

Both O'Sullivan and Nolan were part of a range of major championship qualifiers told they were no longer good enough to deserve a grant. Others in a similar situation include Mark Carroll, Karen Shinkins, Peter Coghlan, Paul Brizzel and Gary Ryan. While 53 athletes were supported in 2004, only 24 were deemed eligible for aid this year.

The Sports Council defended their decision to squeeze many leading athletes out of the higher awards bracket, pointing towards the need to support fresh talent and get a better return on their investment, while planning even greater cuts for 2005.

An option to appeal has always existed, and may at least bring some of the athletes back on board. "The appeal process is an integral part of the carding scheme," explained Finbar Kirwan, the Sports Council's high performance director. "And it is also independent of the high performance unit. It does include a board member of the Sports Council and also a member of the Olympic Council of Ireland, but any decision they make will be completely independent of ours. In other words we have made a judgement, and it's up to the appeal board to either uphold that judgement or else look favourably on the appeal."

All appeals must be cleared by the relevant governing body, in this case the Athletics Association of Ireland (AAI). The final number of appeals won't be known until this evening, but AAI secretary Georgina Drumm confirmed that the majority of athletes dropped because they'd received five years of consecutive support - which included O'Sullivan and Nolan - would be making a strong case for reassessment. "We would also be looking for clarity on several issues," said Drumm, "such as can these athletes get back on the carding scheme if they reach the criteria again in the coming months. And from past experience we have had good co-operation from the Sports Council on this issue."

AAI international secretary Liam Hennessy added that too many athletes had been dropped without proper explanation: "We would a have a few problems with the situation in that some athletes had their grants cut for reasons that weren't signalled at the application phase, and without any clear indication as to why."

Carroll and Coghlan are the only two athletes who've confirmed they won't be appealing. Carroll has returned to his US base and has even hinted at a possible switch of allegiance ahead of the Beijing Olympics. Coghlan announced his retirement from 110-metre hurdling on the day his grant was withdrawn, and didn't think he should appeal. But the AAI are trying to put together a package which they hope might still keep him in the sport.

O'Sullivan, meanwhile, is known to have written directly to John Treacy, the chief executive of the Sports Council, for an explanation as to why she was dropped from World Class One last year (worth €30,500) to zero this year. While she wasn't commenting directly on that appeal, her partner and coach Nic Bideau explained why they felt she still deserved some support.

"Sonia was in the Olympic final last year," he explained, "the only Irish-born athlete to do so. She also has twice run the A-standard qualifying time for the World Championships in Helsinki, and not one other person in receipt of a grant has this. She was also fourth in an IAAF world half marathon last year.

"And despite some media frequently mentioning Sonia's intention to retire, I've never heard Sonia say it herself. Currently she is really enjoying running 100-plus miles a week and is building her fitness nicely after injury slowed her from November to mid-January. Certainly she won't be at her absolute best in the London Marathon, but I feel she'll be able to run a personal best and give herself plenty of reason to continue to pursue her ambitions in the marathon, possibly the European Championships in Gothenburg and even the Beijing Olympics."