Rogge says IOC more credible on doping since Beijing

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is a more credible organisation on doping since the Beijing Games where only eight athletes were suspended for using banned substances, said president Jacques Rogge.

The Belgian said another three athletes have doping cases pending under appeal, as have four showjumpers whose horses tested positive.

This meant a maximum possible total of 15 cases, according to Rogge who had expected about 30-40 cases of doping at the summer Olympics.

Rogge also said China had "opened up" during the Games, leaving an important legacy in terms of new sporting sites, infrastructure and environmental awareness.

"We are convinced our (anti-doping) efforts have borne fruit," Rogge told a news conference in Geneva this week.

"Even if doping will never be resolved of course, we are more credible than ever and it is more difficult for athletes to use drugs."

About 4,500 doping tests were carried out during the Games compared to 3,500 in Athens four years ago.

In addition 40 athletes were banned during months of extensive testing before the Olympics, said the IOC chief.

"Doping will never disappear out of society because doping is to sport what criminality is in society and every society in the world needs police, justice and prisons. The same goes for doping," added Rogge.

"We are fighting very hard to reduce it to the lowest possible level."

Rogge, asked about human rights and media freedoms in China including control of Internet access, said the Olympics were a "force for good" and had a "positive influence" on the host nation.

"The Olympic Games are only a catalyst for change, not a panacea. People cannot expect the Games to achieve what others haven't been able to achieve," he said while pointing to the fact Beijing had a new airport terminal and better metro.

Rogge, asked whether the global credit crisis might endanger future Games, said the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics were "financially secure".

He also added Olympic construction authorities in London, hosts of the 2012 Games, told the IOC in a recent report that they would manage to find proper funding.

Rogge, whose eight-year term ends in 2009, declined to say whether he would run for another four years.