A television advert featuring disgraced ex-sprinter Ben Johnson has been criticized by Australia’s Anti-Doping Authority for making light of the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Canadian Johnson was stripped of 100m Olympic gold from Seoul 1988 after testing positive for a banned steroid.

In the advert, he says a betting firm’s mobile phone app tested positive for speed and power again and again.

The company has defended the advert and says it will not be pulled.

There are several doping puns used in the advert, including claims the app is a hit with performance-enhancement experts all over the world.

Australia’s federal sports minister Greg Hunt called the use of Johnson utterly inappropriate, while Independent senator nick Xenophon wants the country’s media watchdog, the Australian communications and media authority, to take action.