Bulgaria captain sent home for test

BEIJING (Reuters) - Bulgaria's men's volleyball captain has been sent home for further tests following a pre-Olympic doping control, the spokesman for the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) said on Wednesday.

He said the team's doctor stated that Plamen Konstantinov's "values" were very close to the anti-doping limits. The doctor did not specify what limits he was referring to and the tests in Sofia would show whether the elevated levels were physiological.

Konstantinov missed the 3-1 defeat of Japan on Tuesday.

The FIVB said the team doctor, Dinko Zahariev, said on Tuesday night: "In the last Plamen Konstantinov sample there were values very close to the limits set by regulations.

"It could be physiological, I cannot say anything. We asked the WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) laboratory here in Beijing to check this sample but they refused.

"We decided not to risk it and we stopped the player. We need to test him again, that's why he is back in Bulgaria now."

Anti-doping regulations set upper limits for a number of naturally produced substances including red blood cells and testosterone. Elevated levels of these can be caused by doping and can lead to an athlete failing a dope test.

(Writing by Robert Woodward)

(Editing by Jon Bramley)