The first win of Bulgarian national volleyball team at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics against hosts China in four games (25-20, 25-21, 26-28, 25-19) on August 10 2008 was marred by the doubts of a serious crisis in the Bulgarian team.

The reason was the mysterious disappearance of team captain and key player Plamen Konstantinov. Minutes before the start of the game, journalists were told that he would not be on the team's list for health reasons. At the news conference after the game head coach Martin Stoev simply said that the team's doctor had issued a ban on Konstantinov's participation in the game.

“I can not tell you what exactly is the medical problem with him because I am not a physician, but a coach. To me, what matters is the word of our doctor. He is the one telling me who is fit to play and who isn't, so I left Konstantinov out of the list,” Stoev told Bulgarian National Television (BNT).

He said that within a few days there would further information on Konstantinov health condition. As for where Konstantinov was, Stoev gave no answer. ”As far as I know, we left him at the Olympic village after I decided not to include him on the team's starting list. We we came back after the game with China he was gone. I don't know where he is right now but I don't think he has gone back to Bulgaria,” he told BNT on August 11.

Stoev's vague answers and the lack of any statements from the other players on the team gave reasons for media speculation about Konstantinov's disappearance. One possibility, according to Bulgarian media, was that Konstantinov had tested positive for doping and his departure was a way to keep him off doping cops' list. Another version was that there was a row and a fight within the team and Stoev had to show him door. Both stories were firmly denied by Stoev who called them “a fiction”.

A day earlier, Stefka Kostadinova, the head of Bulgarian Olympic Committee, did the same after going to see Stoev in person to discuss the issue. “I was told all about Konstantinov's problem and it is not about doping or conflicts and fights within the team,” she was quoted as saying by BNT.

“We are talking about a health condition that might develop into a serious problem. It is best to wait and see the results because health is what matters the most,” she said without saying what was actually the problem with Konstantinov. She did confirm that he was no longer staying at the Olympic village but did not confirm allegations that he was at the Bulgarian embassy building in Beijing.