Olympic leaders may discuss the possibility of throwing sports out of the Olympic Games at a meeting today if they fail to get tough on doping.

Proposals for tough sanctions on sports who drag their feet on improving drug testing and bans may come up at an International Olympic Committee (IOC) meeting on drugs, a senior official said yesterday.

"There have been thoughts of taking television money away from sports who do not follow the plans for common doping rules," the official said. "And there have been thoughts of taking Olympic sports out of the programme."

Australian Olympic officials were facing the embarrassment of a drugs scandal yesterday just 24 hours before they confront International Olympic chiefs to push for the introduction of tough new laws on doping.

The Australian Olympic Committee confirmed newspaper reports that an Australian athlete had tested positive for a banned substance but would not name the competitor nor the sport.

The news came just as Kevan Gosper, Australian delegate to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), was preparing to present to the IOC's executive board in Switzerland an Australian proposal to tackle drugs in sport.