LONDON (Reuters):

THE GOVERNMENT and UK Sport must do more to make sure doping does not turn London's 2012 Olympics into a national embarrassment, said a report yesterday.

The document, titled 'Human Enhancement Technologies in Sport', accused the government and U.K. Sport, the body responsible for anti-doping, of 'complacency' in putting into place the kind of systems required to tackle drug cheats.

It produced a wide range of recommendations, including four-year bans for drug cheats and a beefing up of Britain's testing procedures plus the establishment of an independent agency to investigate and prosecute doping offenders.

Perfect opportunity

The report supported the idea of blood profiling passports to aid research into the use of illegal Human Enhancement Technologies (HETs). It also called for a requirement for U.K. athletes to compete internationally for the 12 months prior to the 2012 Games, barring those that are injured.

"Sport matters to people and any scandal associated with British sportsmen or women resonates way beyond the immediate sporting world," said Phil Willis, chairman of the cross-party Science and Technology Committee who produced the report.

"The 2012 Olympics have given us the perfect opportunity to showcase the best of British sporting talent.

"We must not risk turning an occasion for national pride into one of embarrassment and disgrace."

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said last year that about 25 per cent more doping tests will be carried out at the Beijing Games in 2008 than at Athens in 2004, bringing the total to about 4,500.

The report quoted a target of 5,000, about half the number of athletes, at the London Games, but said the government and UK Sport must be more pro-active to prepare for such an operation.

"It is a standard procedure during the Olympics that staff from WADA-accredited laboratories from across the world congregate in the host country to assist in the testing process," it said referring to the World Anti-Doping Agency.

"This is reassuring but we are less satisfied with (UK Sport's) admission that this is "part of the pre-Games planning that we are only now beginning to get our heads around".

UK Sport responded yesterday, saying it welcomed any debate on anti-doping it stressed that testing at the Games was not solely the responsibility of the host country.