greek pair attend drugs hearing greek sprinters kostas kenteris and katerina thanou have appeared before an independent tribunal which will decide if their bans should stand.  they were given provisional suspensions by athletics  ruling body the iaaf in december for failing to take drugs tests before the athens olympics. the pair arrived with former coach christos tzekos to give evidence at the hellenic olympic committee s offices. a decision is expected to be announced before the end of february. whatever the ruling  all parties will have the right to appeal to the court of arbitration for sport. yiannis papadoyiannakis  who was head of the greek olympic team at the athens games last year  also testified at the tribunal  along with other greek sports officials and athletes.  i believe the tribunal will reach a decision that will uphold the standing of the institution   said papadoyiannakis.  whatever the athletes have done  we must not forget that they have offered us great moments.  kenteris won 200m gold at the 2000 sydney olympics  while thanou won silver in the 100m.  they withdrew from the athens games last august after missing drugs tests on the eve of the opening ceremony. the pair spent four days in a hospital  claiming they had been injured in a motorcycle crash. the five-member tribunal  assembled by the hellenic association of amateur athletics  is also examining allegations that kenteris and thanou avoided tests in tel aviv and chicago before the games. tzekos was also banned for two years by the iaaf. he faces charges of assisting in the use of prohibited substances and tampering with the doping inspection process. all three  who have repeatedly denied the allegations  have also been charged by a greek prosecutor and face trial for doping-related charges. a trial date has not been set. in imposing two-year suspensions on the duo on 22 december  the iaaf described their explanations for missing the tests as  unacceptable . but kenteris  lawyer gregory ioannidis told bbc sport earlier this week he was confident the sprinters would be cleared of the charges of failing to give information on their location and refusing to submit to testing.  we refute both charges as unsubstantiated and illogical   he said.  there have been certain breaches in the correct application of the rules on behalf of the sporting authorities and their officials  and these procedural breaches have also violated my client s rights.  there is also evidence that proves the fact that my client has been persecuted.