ATHLETICS: An Athens prosecutor has charged two Greek sprinters Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanowith with staging a motorcycle crash on the eve of last year's Athens Olympics that prevented them from taking a doping test, his office said yesterday.

The pair caused the biggest doping scandal since Ben Johnson, who tested positive for steroids in the 1988 Olympics, when they withdrew from the Games after missing a doping test days before they were due to race in front of a home crowd.

"Prosecutor Andreas Karaflos has investigated the case and has issued his report, saying the athletes and their coach should go to trial," his office said.

The sprinters had been under investigation for allegedly avoiding the test inside the Olympic village and then faking the crash that sent them to hospital for four days.

They have said that the accident was not staged.

Karaflos has charged them and their former coach Christos Tzekos with perjury and false testimony to authorities. He has also charged two witnesses he calls in his report "pseudo-witnesses" with perjury.

While the sprinters' charges are all misdemeanours and they do not face the prospect of being jailed, the prosecutor's report throws into doubt a Greek sports disciplinary committee decision in March that acquitted the athletes of any wrongdoing.

The committee did ban Tzekos for four years for his role in the affair.

Karaflos also charges Tzekos with possessing illegal substances in his nutritional supplements company.

Kenteris, who won gold in the 200 metres at the 2000 Sydney Games and Thanou, a silver medallist at the 100 metres at the same Games, are banned from competing pending an International Association of Athletics Federations appeal to their acquittal.

Their case is being heard at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) which is expected to issue a decision early next year.

Their lawyer, Grigoris Ioannidis, has said his clients would be vindicated at CAS. He could not be reached for a comment yesterday.