In the aftermath of Bulgaria’s quarter-final exit from the Olympics men’s volleyball tournament, many blaming fingers are certain to be pointed towards the country’s federation for the row that caused the suspicions of positive doping test results of team captain Plamen Konstantinov. Having won bronze at last year’s World Cup, Bulgaria’s volleyball team was expected to shine on its return to the Olympics after a 12-year break, but the uncertainty provided an unnecessary distraction – and this proved decisive in Bulgaria’s lacklustre showing in one of only two team events where it stood a strong chance of winning a medal.

Konstantinov missed the team’s first four matches in Beijing after a test taken during preparations in South Korea allegedly showed a high testosterone level, close to the maximum acceptable limit permitted by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). His attempts to be tested again by WADA in Beijing were denied, prompting him to leave the Olympic village.

A fair bit of speculation in Bulgarian media has laid the blame at the feet of Dancho Lazarov, the president of Bulgaria’s volleyball federation, who was the one to order that Konstantinov be kept out of the team’s matches. The reason, conspiracy theorists claimed, was the strong dislike that Lazarov harboured for Konstantinov, caused by past clashes between the two. Lazarov’s absence at the final group match against Venezuela on August 18, Konstantinov’s first after returning from Sofia where he underwent new tests, served as additional proof of behind-the-scenes conflicts.

Lazarov rejected the claims: “I was with the team for more than 14 days, lived all the problems surrounding the captain of the team,” he told Bulgarian sports website gong.bg. “I think that we did what needed to be done for the problem to be solved. I planned to return on August 16, but stayed to make sure that everything was well with the team in Beijing. I am a businessman and have other tasks; I cannot afford such a long absence.”

Konstantinov, for his part, has refused to make any accusations so far. “The case is open because sometimes you find out new details, but now is not the time to talk about it,” he told Dnevnik daily after returning to Beijing. “I do not know whether I am right and I could say things that are not true and blame people who are innocent.”

In the end, whatever the reasons, Bulgaria’s uninspiring performance in the volleyball tournament fit in with the general underperformance of the rest of its athletes in Beijing. With four days left before the end of the games, Bulgaria’s medal count at the time The Sofia Echo went to press was the worst since 1956, at one gold, won by rower Roumyana Neikova, and five overall.