ATHENS, August 8, 2008 (AFP) - Greece said Friday it had filed a complaint with the Beijing Olympic committee (Bocog) over the use of the name 'Macedonia' in relation to Skopje's entry to the Olympic Games on its official website.

Greece and its northern neighbour are locked in a bitter dispute over the right to use the name 'Macedonia', which applies to both the former Yugoslav state and a northern Greek province.

Athens claims that Skopje's use of the name implies territorial ambitions beyond its existing borders.

'There has been an official protest to the Bocog president, Liu Qi, and the vice president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Lambis Nikolaou, has raised the issue with the IOC chief Jacques Rogge,' Greek Olympic committee head Minos Kyriakou said in a statement.

Macedonia, which gained independence in 1991, was made a member of the United Nations in 1993 under the temporary name of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).

Subsequent negotiations on the name dispute, under UN auspices, have so far been fruitless.

Kyriakou said it would be unwise if athletes from the former Yugoslav republic used the name Macedonia on their banner during the Olympic opening ceremony.