Bulgarian Lawyer Hopes Court Will Lift Doping Ban on Weightlifters in Time for 2016 Olympics   

The lawyer of Bulgaria's weightlifting federation believes that a doping ban imposed on Bulgarian weightlifters will be overturned in time for them to take part in the 2016 Olympics, Reuters has reported.

"Bulgaria's chances of participating in the Olympics are very good because this punishment contradicts existing International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) regulations," Reuters quoted lawyer Boris Kolev as saying on Monday.

Bulgaria expects that the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport will rule next month on its appeal against an IWF ban on Bulgarian weightlifters. The IWF said last month that Bulgarian weightlifters would not be eligible for the upcoming Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, due to doping cases.

The Bulgarian Weightlifting Federation said in March that eight men and three women Bulgarian athletes, who were preparing for the April 9-18 European championship in Tbilisi, Georgia, had tested positive for stanozolol, an anabolic steroid banned for use in competitions by many international sports bodies.