In a lengthy statement, the NOSC said the organisation, entitled the Association of Athletes and Coaches of Moldova, "does not exist" and claimed it did not know who its members were.

The group made several allegations of corruption against the NOSC and its President Nicolae Juravschi in a letter sent to Moldova President Igor Dodon and Prime Minister Maia Sandu.

It included accusations that MOC officials stole public funds, sold accreditations for the Olympic Games and took commissions on Olympic Solidarity payments meant for Moldovan athletes.

The main claim from the group was that the NOSC had committed an alleged €1 million (£900,000/$1.1 million) fraud connected to the sale of land for its headquarters.

In response, the NOSC dismissed the accusations and took aim at the new group.

"We believe that the authors of the material aim to degrade and denigrate the image of the institution, its employees, Moldovan athletes and coaches," the statement read.

"We underline that NOSC has been recently the target of unjustified attacks and allegations by some malevolent people, and this time an anonymous organisation.

"We observe the fundamental right to information, which is inherent to a democratic society.

"At the same time, we regret that false and defamatory information which brings serious prejudices to the image of NOSC and the Olympic Movement was broadcast and shared."

In the letter, the group claims the MOC sold the plot of land, reportedly worth around €1.5 million (£1.3 million/$1.7 million), for more than €460,000 (£414,000/$513,000) last year.

The group believes the MOC has questions to answer on why it sold the land for three times less than its apparent market value.

It is also claimed the decision to sell the land had been kept a secret.

The NOSC claim, however, that it was the private owner of the land, which it says was "sold at the best market price at the time of the transaction and the NOSC did not receive any bids of €2 million (£1.8 million/$2.2 million), which otherwise would not have been overlooked for sure".

"As for the accusation of stealing public funds, we regard it as slanderous, as the NOSC reports regularly to the Central Public Authority on the use of allocated budgets," the NOSC added.

Juravschi, a double Olympic caenoing gold medallist, had previously denied the claims, which he said were "nonsense".

In response to a request from insidethegames, the International Olympic Committee refused to comment and instead referred to the NOSC statement.