Greek sprinters' lawyer eyes acquittal, vindication

Disgraced Greek sprinters Costas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou have a good chance of being acquitted for a series of missed doping tests when their case appears before the Court of Arbitration for Sport, their lawyer said.

The pair, charged with avoiding three doping tests including one on the eve of last year's Athens Olympics, were found not guilty by a Greek disciplinary committee in March.

The decision triggered the wrath of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) which lodged an appeal with CAS.

"All of the evidence shows no guilt. We have studied the facts, we are prepared and I think we will do well," lawyer Gregory Ioannidis told Reuters in an interview.

"The athletes are patiently waiting for their vindication because the IAAF has no evidence to find them guilty. If they had we would have seen the evidence during the Greek disciplinary commission, whose decision was based only on evidence and not on rumours," he said.

The IAAF and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) are furious with the Greek ruling, saying the athletes, who caused the biggest doping scandal since sprinter Ben Johnson tested positive for steroids at the 1988 Seoul Games, were guilty and should be banned for two years.

Unfair attacks

WADA chief Dick Pound even predicted late last year the pair and their coach would be convicted of a doping violation.

"This is Pound's standard tactic and that is why no-one is taking him seriously," said Ioannidis, a professor of sports law at the University of Buckingham in England and defence counsel to several prominent international athletes and footballers in doping cases.

Kenteris, fellow sprinter Thanou and their coach at the time, Christos Tzekos, are charged with deliberately avoiding testers in Tel Aviv, Chicago and Athens last year.

The Greek disciplinary commission ruled the athletes were victims of incorrect notification procedures but banned Tzekos for four years for his involvement in the affair.

The athletes face separate Greek criminal charges for the missed tests and for faking a motorcycle accident that put the two athletes in hospital for four days.

Kenteris, winner of the 200 metres gold medal at the 2000 Olympics, and Thanou, a 100 metres silver medallist at the same Games in Sydney, are still banned pending the IAAF appeal, which Ioannidis hopes will be over before the end of the year.

"After this is over, Costas, who will be 32 and Katerina, 30, are at their best age to return to the track and perform at the very highest of standards," Ioannidis said.