August 15, 2008	Friday	Sha'aban 12, 1429

SOFIA, Aug 14: Bulgaria’s volleyball team captain said on Thursday he still hoped to compete in the remainder of the Olympics after doping officials signalled the all-clear and that he had been unnecessarily ordered home.

“I’m doing everything possible to get back to Beijing. I really want to play there,” Plamen Konstantinov, the most experienced member of the national team, said in his first comments on the issue.

Bulgaria’s anti-doping commission said on Wednesday the 35-year-old Konstantinov’s last official sample was negative and that it was ready to conduct another test to prove he could compete at the Beijing Games.

The commission said there had been no need to send Konstantinov home from the Olympics, contradicting the team’s doctor and national federation chief Dancho Lazarov.

The International Volleyball Federation said Konstantinov was sent home for further testing after a suspect pre-Olympic test.

Earlier this week, Bulgarian media quoted Lazarov and the team doctor as saying there was a high concentration of testosterone in the sample.

Bulgaria, considered as favourites to win a medal in Beijing, have enjoyed a solid start after beating China and Japan.

Explaining his silence until now, Konstantinov said: “I decided not to talk right now because I didn’t want to rush to a conclusion.”—Reuters