Twenty-eight sports are braced today for a vote to decide if they will continue to feature in the Olympic Games. Golf, squash, karate, rugby sevens and roller sports are all pitching to be included in the 30th modern Olympics.

But for any of the five to be included, one of the existing 28 Olympic sports will have to be voted off the programme at the International Olympic Committee Session in Singapore today.

The sports will face a vote one-by-one and must win a majority from IOC members. Any sport which fails to win more than 50 per cent of members' votes will be dropped from the 2012 programme. If a sport is dropped, the IOC executive board will select a replacement from the list of five candidates.

The sport recommended by the executive board to replace an outgoing one would first need a two-thirds majority to become an "Olympic sport" and would then need a simple majority in a second vote to be admitted to the 2012 Games programme.

Olympic sources in Singapore say it is unlikely the members will eject a sport for fear of causing irreversible damage to its status and finances. But IOC members say they do want change.Rugby hopes some compromise can be found.

"London wants rugby in the Olympics, that is for certain," said International Rugby Board secretary general Mike Miller. "We would sell out Twickenham, Wembley or the new athletics stadium and it would create up to or maybe more than £10 million of revenue."