The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has described The Sunday Times' report alleging widespread doping in athletics over the last decade as "sensationalist and confusing".
The Sunday Times and German broadcaster ARD/WDR published data from 12,000 blood tests of 5,000 athletes between 2001 and 2012 that revealed the "extraordinary extent of cheating" by athletes at the world's biggest events.
In a lengthy response, the IAAF said in a statement: "The published allegations were sensationalist and confusing - the results referred to were not positive tests.
"In fact, ARD and The Sunday Times both admit that their evaluation of the data did not prove doping."
The statement went on to say: "Data on which the reports were based was not 'secret' – the IAAF published a detailed analysis of this data more than four years ago."
The report claimed that more than 800 athletes - and a third of all medallists in endurance events at recent Olympics and World Championships - had suspicious blood test results which were not followed up by the IAAF.
