Millar was banned for two years in 2004 after police found empty phials of Eprex, a brand of the blood-boosting drug erythropoietin (EPO), and two used syringes at his apartment in Biarritz.

Following his suspension, he returned to win World Championships silver medal and Commonwealth Games gold in 2010 before retiring in 2014.

The Scot has since become an advocate for anti-doping in sport and was the first competitor to have served a drugs ban to become part of the Athletes' Committee of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

The IOC announced in January that it was appealing for researchers to apply for support and funding of athlete-centered projects on anti-doping and that they had provided $10 million (£7 million/€9 million) to fund research pertaining to anti-doping for the protection of athletes.

“They are so far removed from what’s going on and are so powerful - they should be using their power in a different way rather than worrying about the next city they are going to host the Games and how much money they are going to get in from sponsors and TV rights,” the 39-year-old told the Tackling Doping in Sport Conference here. 

“They should be cutting that and sharing that towards helping the athletes.

“They need to help clean athletes more to prevent the clean athletes from becoming dopers because that is their moral responsibility.

“The amount of money that is involved in the IOC and the hosting of the Games and the money they demand from sponsors and the amount of money that is put in to global anti-doping doesn’t add up.

“Then they go on their high and mighty about Olympic bans and zero tolerance but what are you guys actually doing to stop this happening apart from a couple of Victorian statements about amateurism?

“I just think because they control everything - they do seem like they are in an ivory tower and act like princes.”

Millar also called on the IOC to increase their financial contribution to the fight against doping in sport, claiming that they could afford to syphon off some of their vast income from major sponsors and commit it to organisations such as WADA.

“If the IOC receive £100 million ($141 million/€130 million) from a sponsor, at least £20m ($28 million/€26 million), maybe more, should go towards anti-doping,” he added.

“It’s realistic and it’s something they should do.”

Millar criticised International Federations for “having their head in the sand” over the doping problem which continues to affect several sports, most notably athletics, which remains embroiled in the worst scandal in its history.

“No international federation has the right to say they haven’t got a problem - that’s what the International Cycling Union did for many years until they had to admit that there was an issue,” Millar, who works with British Cycling as a mentor, added.

“It’s very hard to know what is going on the ground when you are working at a political level in Switzerland or Monaco and fighting this macro game.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they [governing bodies] have no idea what’s going on down there because they don’t do the research and they’re not paying attention to the stories that are being written.

“Governing bodies have to win the hearts and minds of the athletes which they’re not doing at the moment, I think, by playing this head in the sand game.”

In response, the IOC said: "Our mission at the IOC is to support and protect the clean athletes - not just those competing at the Olympic Games.

"One of the first things Thomas Bach did after becoming IOC President in 2013 was to agree a USD 10 million fund to help in the fight against doping and particularly to research into new and smarter methods of detection.

"At the same time the sporting movement as a whole spends something like half a billion dollars a year on this fight, on testing and prevention.

"We have long held a zero tolerance attitude towards doping in sport and to suggest otherwise would be to ignore the facts."