IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch yesterday accused some sporting organisations of "doing nothing" to catch drug cheats. Samaranch said there was a split in international sport between officials who wanted to catch doping offenders and those who did not.

"I am surprised with sports that there are two different worlds," Samaranch said in an interview. "One world with the IOC and international federations fighting against doping. There is a second world where they do nothing against doping."

The IOC chief would not give the names of the countries or federations to which he was referring. His comments may have been aimed partly at the United States where some professional sports are not so tough as athletics with their testing and penalties.

Samaranch praised athletics for having one of the most stringent anti-doping programmes, especially through its out-of-competition tests. But he said it was often a hard task for organisers of events to be tough on drugs, referring to the recent Pan-Arab Games in Beirut which were tainted by drug abuse with the disqualification of 12 athletes. It was the first time athletes had been thrown out for drug use since the inaugural Games in Egypt in 1953.

"Look at the Pan-Arab Games in Beirut. For the first time they had doping control with the help of the IOC and they got more than nine athletes," Samaranch said. "But they got a lot of critics saying the event was full of doping. They have had five or so games before and they have not had a single word against the games. It can be discouraging for organisers to fight."