New IAAF President Sebastian Coe was also accused of being naive due to his optimism in the commitment of the organisation to tackle doping and the world governing body was accused of having "materially failed" athletes participating in events such as the London Marathon.

The IAAF was also called upon to publish monthly statistics of doping tests conducted on athletes to prove their commitment and success therein, with athletes referred to anonymously if need be.

The panel of Members of Parliament from the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, chaired by Conservative Jesse Norman, called on four witnesses, including World Anti-Doping Agency director general David Howman,

Also in attendance were Nicole Sapstead and David Kenworthy, chief executive and chair of UK Anti-Doping respectively.

It was Australian anti-doping expert Dr Michael Ashenden, one of the figures who studied leaked data obtained by German television station ARD and British newspaper The Sunday Times last month, though, who provided the most food for thought, not holding back in his criticism of the governing bodies' supposed failures.

It was alleged that the IAAF failed to follow up test results from as many as 800 athletes despite suspicions that blood doping had occurred, with a third of medals in endurance events at the Olympics and World Championships over the period, including the London 2012 Olympic Games, reportedly won by athletes who submitted such samples.

Speaking via video link Ashenden, dismissed as a "so-called expert" by Coe when the IAAF strongly denied his findings, but whose reputation was praised by all the other witnesses, suggested there is little appetite from sporting stakeholders to catch all doping cheats because none of them benefit from revealing sport's "dirty underbelly".

Ashenden criticised the IAAF's lack of action to back up phrases like "zero tolerance", claiming that the biggest problem is a lack of enforcement of their rules. 

"They had an opportunity in 2005 after when the scale of blood doping began to become obvious," he told the Committee.

"But they didn't take the chance.

"More athletes have been removed since the Biological Passport system came in [in 2009] but by then they were fighting an uphill battle due to the huge number of cases.

"To fight that would have been a public relations disaster."

In comparison, during the 1990s and 2000s the UCI, which faced a similar doping crisis in cycling, had made at least some progress, Ashenden said.

He strongly criticised Sebastian Coe's words, in the latter stages of his Presidential campaign, that the Sunday Times' reports were a "declaration of war" against his sport.

Coe will live to regret that "extreme" statement, the Australian predicted, adding that it was "one of the responses you’d expect from a Federation advised by a PR crisis management group".

On the same issue, Kenworthy added: "When I read that my thought was, 'Is this a man who is about to stand for election'?"

Ashenden also denied the IAAF's claim that the samples cannot be taken as proof of guilt due to the number of factors which can affect blood values, insisting the timing and nature of the scores were to such an extent that the "likelihood that they were caused by anything other [than blood doping] can be safely dismissed."

Speaking afterwards, however, Sapstead warned against drawing conclusions without understanding the whole context, with issues such as pregnancy and altitude being known to affect values.

There was also a difference of opinion on the capabilities of the authorities, with Sapstead believing the cheats were always one step ahead while Ashenden claimed the problem was more one of willpower than technical know-how.

He did add that, in his view, other groups such as WADA and the London Marathon organisers were not aware of the data from before 2009, so should not be held to account.

In return, Sapstead conceded that, while she has never had any reason to suspect the IAAF were being anything other than "open and transparent" in their dealings, she is now "reserving judgement" until the WADA Independent Commission report is heard.

Alleged "systematic" doping in Russia, the country at the centre of the WADA investigation due to be completed this year, was also discussed extensively today, with Kenya highlighted as another problem with a high number of cases in athletics.

The possibility British athletes could be involved was also considered, including those involved in the London Marathon, although any discussion of specific names was notably absent.

Related stories
September 2015: IAAF to face new challenge as British Parliament holds inquiry into blood doping in athletics
August 2015: Coe defends IAAF on anti-doping at conclusion of "amazing" World Championships
August 2015: Nick Butler: IAAF have to understand why the public don't believe them and it's up to new President to restore trust
August 2015: Non, je ne regrette rien, insists Coe on "declaration of war" claims as scorned expert writes him open letter
August 2015: London Marathon criticises IAAF “failure” after new claim that seven winners in last 12 years were “suspicious”