'We had 39 positive cases in the run-up to the games, eight during the games, and seven more possibly coming up,' Mr Rogge said on Friday.

He was at a gala celebration to mark the 100th anniversary of the Austrian Olympic Committee.

Mr Rogge said it will take perhaps six more weeks before all final results of the doping tests are available from the games in August.

The fight against doping remains the biggest challenge to the International Olympic Committee, according to Mr Rogge.

'Doping in sports is like crime in society,' Mr Rogge said.

In October, the International Olympic Committee said it would retest samples from the Beijing Olympics to search for CERA, a new generation of the endurance-enhancing hormone EPO at the center of the latest Tour de France scandals.

Six athletes were disqualified for doping during the games - Ukrainian heptathlete Lyudmila Blonska, Ukrainian weightlifter Igor Razoronov, Greek hurdler Fani Halkia, North Korean shooter Kim Jong Su, Spanish cyclist Isabel Moreno and Vietnamese gymnast Thi Ngan Thuong Do.

The IOC conducted more than 5,000 drug tests during the Beijing Games, including nearly 1,000 blood screenings. -- AP