A top United States Olympic official has assured the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that his country is committed to the fight against performance-enhancing drugs following fierce criticism of their record.

In an open letter to IOC President Jacques Rogge, Bill Martin said: "I can assure you the United States Olympic Committee and the United States Anti-Doping Agency share your assessment of the importance of this matter."

He also insisted: "This matter should in no way become a barrier to the New York City 2012 Olympic bid effort."

The head of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Dick Pound had said in Montreal on Thursday that he wanted the U.S. to be turned into a "sports pariah" unless it took the issue more seriously.

Pound is dismayed at the White House's recent funding cuts to WADA and the relatively light penalties being handed out by Major League Baseball (MLF) and the NFL for positive steroid tests.

The U.S.'s contributions to WADA have dropped from $1 million to $800,000.

Pound added on Thursday that he would consider urging Rogge to pressure member sports federations to remove all international competitions from the U.S. unless they improve their record on doping.

LATE PAYERS

Pound said WADA had received less than two-thirds of the funding expected from countries for 2003. Late payers included the U.S.

Acting president of the U.S. Olympic Committee Martin said the sum of $800,000 "places the United States among the top three nations in the Olympic movement with respect to providing financial support to the agency".

He said his country's contribution for 2003 would be made within the next 60 to 90 days.

"The issue is not whether the U.S. Government will fulfil its obligations, but rather the timetable under which it is legally empowered to transfer the funds."

One of the complications of processing payments stemmed from the fact that WADA operates on a calendar year which does not coincide with the fiscal year of the U.S. government, he said.

Lack of funding forced WADA to cut back the number of planned random tests by a third to 5,000 in 2003. Pound said he feared that further reduced funding would result in even fewer tests next year and a reduction in research.

"If we got our money we would have more time to go after them (MLB) on certain issues," he said. "But right now we're at the point where we don't even take plane trips any more."

New York faces competition from London, Madrid, Paris, Leipzig, Moscow, Istanbul, Havana and Rio de Janeiro to stage the 2012 Games. A decision will be made in July 2005.