Lausanne, Switzerland ? Baseball, softball and modern pentathlon have three months left to save their sports from being dropped from the Olympics. Ballroom dancing, surfing and bowling can forget trying to get into the games.

The International Olympic Committee executive board discussed an internal report Thursday proposing the biggest shake-up in the sports program of the summer games.

The program commission recommends eliminating baseball, softball and modern pentathlon, as well as events and disciplines in wrestling, equestrian, rowing, sailing, canoe-kayak and others.

The report proposes adding golf and rugby on condition that the sports’ top athletes take part.

The executive board put off a decision on the proposals until its next meeting in late November in Mexico City.

The board will then make recommendations to the full IOC session, meeting Nov. 26-29, for final approval.

Cutting sports requires a simple majority of the assembly of more than 120 members. A two-thirds majority is needed for adding sports.

The revised program would go into effect at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

The IOC board rejected applications of 14 sports seeking a spot in the Olympics. Among those turned down were ballroom dancing, surfing, bowling, bridge, chess, billiards, squash, water skiing and racquetball.

IOC president Jacques Rogge said, the program would be kept at a maximum of 28 sports the current level.

“It will be a difficult decision,” he said at the conclusion of a three-day executive board meeting. “It’s definitely not going to be an easy task.”

The last time a sport was removed from the Olympics was in 1936, when polo was dropped.

In recent years, the IOC talked about eliminating sports, but only added new ones. Rogge, however, is determined to keep the size of the games under control.

“If we want a situation where everyone is everyone’s friend and we’re are buddies, well we don’t move,” he said. “I don’t know what is going to happen but what I think is very important is that the commission of renowned experts have given a signal, and that signal is that there is a problem with some federations. Will that problem end up in the expulsion? I don’t know yet. But I believe the proposal is a strong warning a shot across the bows of these federations that we think there is a problem there.”

The commission report also recommended:

exclusion of either Greco-Roman or freestyle wrestling, citing “low public and media comprehension of differences between the two disciplines.”

boxing remain in the Olympics but its status be reviewed because of image problems; women’s boxing not be considered for inclusion.

elimination of canoe-kayak slalom; three-day event in equestrian; race walking in track and field; keelboat class in sailing; synchronized swimming team event; light-weight rowing event; badminton mixed doubles event, and a reduction in athletes and events in shooting.

Baseball became a full medal event at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. However, unlike other sports which have attracted the world’s top professionals, Olympic baseball has failed to include top major league players, since the season overlaps with the games.