The head of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), Dick Pound, has called on the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) to release the full details of an investigation into five cyclists accused of using performance-enhancing drugs.
The quintet were cleared of any wrongdoing but Pound said Australia's reputation as a world leader in the fight against drugs in sport had been compromised by ASC's refusal to release details.
"I would have thought that if athletes were exonerated, it would be quite easy to say why they are exonerated," Pound told Australian radio today.
"The rest of the world is going to say how is it that Australia deals with all these things in secret."
Pound said he had been denied a copy of the independent report into the allegations, despite repeated requests, and would complain to the Australian government.
The ASC said Pound's comments were wrong and ill-informed.
Chief executive Mark Peters said WADA had been kept up to date with all the latest developments but the report could not be made public because Mark French, the rider at the centre of the scandal, was currently appealing against his ban.
"Mr Pound should be aware that Australia, like his home country Canada, has binding privacy legislation that prevents the release of information given in confidence without the approval of the individuals who gave that information," Peters said.
"Had he checked before making ill-informed media statements, he would have found that WADA has been kept informed of the allegations made against Australian cyclists since the issue arose late last year."
The Australian government ordered an urgent investigation after French, who was banned from competing at the Olympics for life for a range of doping offences including trafficking, accused five team mates of using performance-enhancing drugs.
The former junior world track champion said a group of elite riders used a room at the Australian Institute of Sport as a "shooting gallery" to inject themselves with steroids and growth hormones.