Could the feud over the leadership of the Bahamas Olympic Association (BOA) tarnish that organization's image in international sporting circles?

That likelihood certainly is inherent in a letter circulated over the weekend by Sir Arlington Butler, the long-time president of the BOA, who is locked in an acrimonious dispute with newly elected officers of the BOA. The letter is a follow-up to another letter e-mailed by Sir Arlington to members of the BOA shortly after he returned from a meeting in Beijing, China, claiming that Mario Vazquez Rana, President of the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO), had advised that "an assembly to elect the new executive" for the BOA be held on May 8, at the Nassau Yacht Club.

That letter drew a sharp response from executives of the BOA, who placed a "public notice" in the newspapers advising BOA members that Sir Arlington was not an official of the BOA and "his e-mail on April 10th, 2008 should be disregarded."

Not to be outdone, over the weekend Sir Arlington e-mailed another letter from Rana, dated April 24, that referred to the Beijing meeting and his request to summon a general assembly of the BOA to elect a new executive committee.

"It is important that all the members of the association participate in this assembly, so they can elect, democratically and freely, the people who shall have the responsibility of governing the country's Olympic movement," the letter from Rana stated. "I kindly ask you to inform me on the progress regarding the summons, date, time and place of the Assembly, as well as your estimation on the possibility that with this, the unfortunate and long internal conflict concludes, for the good of the athletes and Olympic sport in The Bahamas."

The letter then added this warning: "I reiterate the comments I made in Beijing regarding the evident risk that the Bahamas Olympic Association could be sanctioned, if it is not possible to find a reasonable and fair solution."

Given the serious nature of that warning, if Rana indeed has the clout in Olympic circles that Sir Arlington obviously is suggesting he has, then BOA members clearly must now decide if the executive of the BOA are standing on solid ground which they say that Sir Arlington "has no authority to bind the Bahamas Olympic Association or to incur debts in the name of the Bahamas Olympic Association."

In making this decision, they must determine whether Sir Arlington is using the influence of a friendship that he developed over 35 years as president of the BOA to "scare" them into participating in a general assembly.

Certainly, there is a strong possibility that in his meeting with Rana in Beijing, Sir Arlington only told his side of the story and Rana got "involved" without knowing all of the facts surrounding what led to the current standoff in the BOA.

There is also the question of what authority or right Rana has to inject himself in an internal dispute in the BOA. True, Sir Arlington made it a point to note that in addition to being president of PASO, Rana is the president of the Association of National Olympic Committees and an International Olympic Committee executive. But does that give him the right to appear to be taking sides in a BOA dispute for which there has already been "a reasonable and fair solution"?

The major problem is that Sir Arlington refuses to accept that "reasonable and fair solution" and is using the influence he accumulated among international Olympic officials over the years to try and manufacture a "solution" that pleases him.

That's not only selfish, it's downright irresponsible.