Greek sprinters Costas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou were provisionally suspended by the world governing athletics body on Wednesday for missing three doping tests before last August's Athens Olympics.

In a statement the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) said explanations provided by the pair for missing tests in Tel Aviv, Chicago and Athens were unacceptable.

"Accordingly the IAAF has notified the Greek Federation earlier this afternoon that both athletes and the coach (Christos Tzekos) are provisionally suspended pending the resolution of their cases," the IAAF said.

Kenteris, the 2000 Olympic 200 metres champion, and Thanou, the women's 100 metres silver medallist from the same Games in Sydney, also face a criminal hearing in Greece over the missed tests.

They failed to appear to give samples in Chicago and Tel Aviv shortly before the Athens Games and again in Athens on August 12, the eve of the opening ceremony.

Greek prosecutors have also charged them with faking a midnight motorcycle crash which led to them spending four days in hospital. Some medical staff have been charged with writing false medical reports.

Wednesday's statement said the Greek Federation (SEGAS) would convene a disciplinary hearing for the trio to determine whether there had been doping violations.

"There will be a final right of appeal from the decision of the Greek Federation to the Court of Arbitration for Sport," the IAAF said.

The athletes' lawyer, Michalis Dimitrakopoulos, said the IAAF were wrong to suspend the pair.

"We believe that it's a mistake by the IAAF," he said. "We will present our case before the disciplinary committee of SEGAS to prove our innocence."

(Additional reporting by Foo Yun Chee in Athens)