ATHENS, Greece (AP) Greek sports officials are searching for athletes to boost the country's medal chances in the 2004 Athens Olympics.

The primary requirement: Greek ancestry.

The Greek are hunting for athletes in sports virtually unknown in the birthplace of the ancient games - such as baseball, badminton, field hockey and softball.

Some Greek heritage is required to qualify for citizenship. One potential obstacle - mandatory military service for males - could be cleared by a special law under consideration by parliament.

The new rules, if approved, would give a military exemption to all ethnic Greek athletes selected to represent Greece in the Olympics, said Panos Mitsiopoulos, president of the Greek Baseball Federation.

"It is a gift that the Greek state must do for those young people who will come to compete for Greece," said Mitsiopoulos, who has already begun to scout baseball talent.

On Aug. 4, the Greek national baseball team, packed with players from the United States and Canada, won the European pool B tournament in Hungary.

The Greeks outscored their four opponents 106-8, and Chicago native Alex Cremiden threw a no-hitter in a 21-0 win over Slovakia.

There is a large pool of potential athletes for the small country of about 11 million people.

There are an estimated 7 million ethnic Greeks around the world, including about 2 million in North America and 600,000 in Australia, according to the World Council of Hellenes Abroad.

Greek sports officials are under pressure to improve on the 13 medals Greece won in Sydney - especially in front of home fans.

The effort to tweak the rules to bring in ethnic Greek athletes is part of a larger legislative barrage. The so-called Olympic laws have created new ways to cut through red tape and move through the nation's suffocating bureaucracy.

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