The Beijing Olympics were close to becoming a disaster over the protest-marred torch relay, Canadian International Olympic Committee member Richard Pound said in a rare attack on Tuesday.

Pound, a former IOC vice-president who lost the presidential election to Jacques Rogge in 2001, said that many western nations were in a boycott mood over China's crushing of the unrest in Tibet.

Hein Verbruggen, head of the co-ordination commission for the Beijing Games which start on Friday, also issued some criticism by saying that the IOC must control some non-sports-related issues rather than local organizers.

The remarks came after BOCOG president Liu Qi had made his final pre-Games presentation to the IOC.

Pound said the international relay should have been scrapped after the incidents in Tibet as protest action was to be expected, and took place in Paris and London and other cities.

"This was close to becoming a disaster. The risks were obvious," said Pound.

"In my country and many others we were in a full boycott mode," Pound said at the normally harmonious IOC Session.

"I think it was only the earthquake that diverted attention. We have averted that disaster."

Tempers ran high in March when China crushed the unrest in Tibet and Rogge admitted to "a crisis" at IOC meetings in Beijing in April around the protest-marred relay.

The earthquake in the Sichuan province came on May 12, killing an estimated 70,000. Political goodwill then averted any boycott threats.

Verbruggen praised China for its work in general but also called for a careful review of issues without directly criticising the Chinese.

He said the IOC needed to be "more proactive" and "more hands-on" in the future on certain issues while the sport should be the number one task for any future organizing committee.

Rogge said earlier: "We will have to reflect with calmness and tranquility on the Olympic torch relay. It is illusory to think the simple elimination of the international relay will make all the problems disappear."

Liu, meanwhile, said that the Games will feature a record 11,128 athletes, up from 10,651 in Athens 2004, and that Beijing is ready.

"All preparations have been successfully completed, all venues are in operation," he said three days ahead of the opening.

Rogge told the IOC members that TV income for the 2010 and 2012 Games was 3.8 billion dollars, 40 per cent up from the 2.6 billion the IOC received for the 2006 and 2008 Olympics. The projected IOC income from sponsorships 2008-2012 is 1 billion dollars.

IOC Marketing and TV Services chairman Timo Lumme said: "We believe Beijing will be significant milestone - more coverage for more people on more media platforms as ever before."

NBC will broadcast 2,200 of its 3,400 hours on the internet, China's CCTV will have complete online Olympic coverage and the IOC announced to show video on demand in 77 countries and territories ranging from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe on YouTube.

"The landscape of the media will change, the internet will increase significantly, terrestrial TV will switch to digital TV and mobile phone TV will also have become a reality," said Lumme.

IOC medical commission head Arne Ljungqvist said that that the city's pollution will likely not form a big risk for athletes.

"I am confident that the air quality will not prove to pose major problems to the athletes," said Ljungqvist.

The IOC said it will receive air quality data every hour during the Games and has announced it will move endurance events if there is a health risk for athletes.

Also on Tuesday, former sprinter Frankie Fredericks from Namibia was elected head of the IOC athletes' commission and takes the place of his predecessor Sergei Bubka on the IOC executive board.