'Kenteris doping case not over'

2005-04-01 10:15

Brisbane - President Jacques Rogge said on Friday the IOC could reopen the case of disgraced Greek sprinters Kostas Kenteris and Ekaterina Thanou if they wanted to compete at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Kenteris and Thanou were last month cleared of missing doping tests by the Greek athletics federation, but their former coach Christos Tzekos was suspended for four years.

Rogge said the International Olympic Committee was awaiting a decision by International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) on whether they would appeal to the Court of Arbitration in Sport (CAS) against the Greek federation's decision.

"We expect the decision by the IAAF within a week or two and we'll know exactly what the IAAF will do," Rogge told a press conference during the Oceanic National Olympic Committee general assembly here on Friday.

"If the case is exhausted at the level of the IAAF, the IOC still has the possibility to reopen the case in case Kenteris and Thanou want to participate in Beijing.

"Because in the ruling we passed in Athens after the athletes voluntarily withdrew their accreditations it was said that eventual granting of new accreditation for the 2008 Games would depend on a further inquiry by the IOC of all the circumstances.

"So we have legally the possibility if the athletes want to compete in Beijing to reopen the case and then see what this inquiry will lead to," he said.

"I cannot speculate on the decision of the IAAF, neither on the eventual decision of the Court of Arbitration in Sport, but one thing is clear ... this case is not over."

Kenteris, the 200m Olympic gold medallist at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and Thanou, silver medallist in the 100m, had been accused by the IAAF of breaking doping rules by failing to submit to drug tests on the eve of last year's Olympics in Athens.

They had also been charged with missing tests in Tel Aviv on July 27-28, and Chicago on August 10-11.

They subsequently pulled out of the showpiece events at the Athens Olympics in which both were tipped to be medal winners.

But the Greek athletics federation concluded that Kenteris and Thanou were not to blame for missing the August 12 drug test in Athens, as Tzekos had failed to inform them that they were being sought by IOC officials.

- AFP