A major international row was brewing here last night after the Greek sprinters Kostas Kederis and Ekaterina Thanou were cleared by their own federation of deliberately trying to avoid drug tests on the eve of last year's Olympics.
The pair had been caught up in a storm of controversy on the eve of the games in Athens, when it was claimed they had deliberately evaded drug testers on a number of occasions around the world.
But when the independent panel announced its decision yesterday after hearing two months of evidence from a number of witnesses, including Kederis, 31, and Thanou, 30, it declared the athletes were innocent.
It did, though, find the pair's former coach Christos Tzekos guilty of not informing them that they should make themselves available for tests in the athlete's village in Athens during the build-up to the Olympics. He was suspended for four years.
Senior officials from the International Association of Athletics Federations, here for the world cross-country championships, were stunned by the decision. They had provisionally suspended Kederis and Thanou in December because they said their explanations were "unacceptable".
"We are very surprised by the decision," said Nick Davies, the spokesman for the IAAF. "Now we will be waiting for the full documentation and explanation."
IAAF officials expected Kederis and Thanou to be banned for at least a year, if not two, after they also allegedly avoided tests in Tel Aviv and Chicago before the Olympics.
They had suspected the two of using drugs since both made stunning breakthroughs at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. There, Kederis had won the 200 metres and Thanou the silver medal in the 100m behind Marion Jones.
Suspicions had been raised by the secrecy with which the two conducted their training and the lack of occasions they raced competitively.
During the build-up to Athens the IAAF had publicly warned the Greek federation that it must ensure Kederis and Thanou were available for out-of-competition testing if the doubts were to be erased.
The IAAF will almost certainly refer the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, which will examine the evidence and reach a judgment that is final and binding.
Kederis had been due to light the flame at the opening ceremony in Athens before the row on the day before the games, when the International Olympic Committee went to test him and Thanou only to find neither. His face adorned billboards and he had been voted Greece's most popular man. But the public turned on him and Thanou because of the scandal.
"Mr Kederis is delighted with the vindication he has received today," said his lawyer Grigoris Ioannidis. "The decision means that he has been exonerated of highly damaging and unfounded charges which have been extremely harmful for his career.
"Mr Kederis has consistently maintained his innocence and this was substantiated by further evidence we were able to submit to the tribunal following its deliberations in January.
"This evidence shows Mr Kederis was never asked to submit to a test so he could not possibly have been guilty of deliberately avoiding one. It shows he has no case to answer.
"Mr Kederis should now be given the opportunity to rebuild his career in the full knowledge that there is no stain on his character. He has suffered greatly throughout this ordeal that has exposed both himself and his family to enormous pressures."
The decision also casts doubts over whether Kederis and Thanou should have been denied the chance to compete in the Olympics. Both came under pressure to withdraw, which they eventually did.
"We have to remember the IOC were in the middle of pursuing a disciplinary hearing when the two athletes chose to surrender their accreditation," said Giselle Davies of the IOC. "From that moment on they excluded themselves."
It is the second occasion that Tzekos has paid the price for a doping scandal. In 1997 the IAAF banned him for two years after he manhandled a drug-control officer at a training camp in Dortmund while three of his athletes fled and escaped a random test.
Tzekos, who was sacked by Kederis and Thanou after the scandal, accepted his suspension last night. "The decision is very good but someone has to pay," he said. "They say I was informed about the tests and the athletes were not. I can live with that."
The drama is not over yet, though. Kederis and Thanou also face a criminal hearing in Greece over the missed tests and motorcycle accident they claimed happened as they were returning to the athletes village and that left them both in hospital for several days.
It is alleged the accident was faked and it has led prosecutors in Greece to file a series of criminal charges against several people, including Kederis and Thanou. They have not yet been tried, with their criminal case expected to be heard later this year.
