Ljungqvist, on a visit to Beijing for a follow-up of the Olympic Games health legacy, said the anti-doping fight was not expensive, on the contrary, the investment was small.

 

He said: "Anti doping is not expensive if compared to the amount of money circulating in the world sport.

 

"It is a small fraction, a peanut."

 

The Swede estimated that about 250,000 tests conducted world wide each year with around $700 (£468) spent on each test, which put the total amount of money at $175 million (£117 million).

 

The annual budget for the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) was about $25 million (£16.7 million), said Ljungqvist, who is the vice-president of the organisation.

 

He said big sports stars' salaries can easily beat WADA 's budget.

 

Ljungqvist said: "If you compare what an NHL team was paid for one season [with the investment in anti doping], it is peanut."

 

The National Hockey League last year raised the salary cap so each team could spend as much as $56.7 million (£37.9 million) on player salaries.

 

Ljungqvist said more countries and regions are aware of the importance for anti doping but their investment was not enough.

 

He said: "Since doping is such a serious problem, you could be surprised that not more money is put into the fight."