Countdown to the Winter Olympics / Lillehammer ’94 : February 12-27 : Hearing by USOC Expected : Olympics: Walker says that group must decide on Tonya Harding’s fate.

While U.S. Olympic Committee officials said here Monday they were close to a decision to hold a hearing that would determine whether figure skater Tonya Harding can compete in the Winter Games, the committee’s president said such a hearing is inevitable.

“We don’t have any choice,” LeRoy Walker said from his home in Durham, N.C. “We have to make the decision (on Harding).”

Walker said he and the USOC’s executive director, Harvey Schiller, had reached that conclusion in a telephone conversation last week, before the U.S. Figure Skating Assn. announced results of an investigation that found reasonable grounds existed to believe Harding was involved in either the plan to attack rival Nancy Kerrigan or in the cover-up.

After receiving that decision from the USFSA Saturday night, Schiller announced that the USOC was weighing whether to convene the Games Administrative Board next week to decide if Harding’s actions violated the committee’s code of conduct.

Schiller said Monday the USOC was still uncertain whether to proceed, but acknowledged that the committee is moving in that direction. A USOC source, who did not want to be identified, said Sunday that the committee is “97, 98, 99%” sure to announce this week that a hearing will be held.

Asked about Walker’s statement that the USOC has no choice, Schiller said: “I don’t think we can say that yet. But I would say that the probability is really strong.”

Schiller said Sunday the USOC was waiting to make a decision until after Walker had evaluated between 300 and 400 pages of documentation from the USFSA’s investigation. Walker said he still had not received the papers and seemed frustrated that no one from the USOC had contacted him since Saturday.

Another source close to the situation said the papers were being reviewed by the USOC’s chief counsel, Ron Rowan, at the committee’s headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colo.

“We want to make sure that we have a firm grasp of all the legal issues,” the source said.

Rowan did not return telephone calls to his office.

Neither did Harding’s attorneys, although a spokeswoman, Janis Timlick, said Monday from Portland, Ore., that they would not hold any news conferences or make any comments about anything pertaining to the matter for 72 hours.

The USOC has been in daily contact with Harding’s attorneys since Saturday, but has not given them notice of a hearing date. According to the Amateur Sports Act of 1978, Harding must be invited to attend the hearing.

Sources said the earliest the Games Administrative Board could convene would be next Tuesday. The USOC has until Feb. 21, two days before the women’s competition begins in Hamar, Norway, to declare its two entrants. If either of the first two selections, Kerrigan or Harding, is unable to compete, the first alternate, Michelle Kwan, 13, of Torrance, would be the replacement.

As the USOC’s president, Walker can appoint members of the board. He said Monday he was considering the addition of two to the 13 already appointed before he arrives here Friday, one day before the opening ceremony at Lillehammer Olympic Park.

Walker said the USOC should act either to remove Harding from the team or allow her to compete as soon as possible to shift the focus away from her and Kerrigan.

“The Winter Olympics are not just about two individuals,” he said. “We have 151 other athletes.”

But for now, Harding and Kerrigan have dominated the news.

Kerrigan’s coach, Evy Scotvold, had a harsh reaction Monday when it was announced the American skaters were assigned to the same practice session at the Hamar Olympic Amphitheatre.

“Absurd,” Scotvold said.