The Province officially declared its independence from Serbia today but are unlikely to be admitted to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in time for the Beijing Olympics, which start on August.

The United States, Britain, France and Germany have endorsed Kosovo's independence declaration.

Russia and Serbia are opposed, as are a few European Union countries, including Spain.

But IOC spokeswoman Emmanuelle Moreau said Kosovo needs to be recognised by the United Nations (UN) as an independent state and meet various sports requirements before gaining Olympic status.

Moreau said: "At this stage we still have to see what that the UN decides.

"It looks unlikely athletes would be able to compete in Beijing for Kosovo because of the very short period of time."

Five ethnic Albanian boxers from Kosovo are hoping to compete in Beijing.

Apart from UN recognition, Kosovo needs to have a recognised national Olympic committee and official ties with several international sports federations.

Once those criteria are met, the IOC executive board could endorse Kosovo's Olympic status.

Final approval would come from the full IOC assembly.

Moreau said: "As we speak today, it is too early to say what will happen.

"It's quite early in the process.

"It's completely hypothetical. We will have to wait and see what the UN decides."

Short of full recognition, the IOC could allow Kosovar athletes to compete as independent competitors under the Olympic flag.

Such arrangements were made previously for athletes from East Timor and the former Yugoslavia.