Lokomotiv Sofia midfielder tests positive for doping: club

Lokomotiv Sofia midfielder Nikolai Pavlov tested positive for doping after a second-leg UEFA Cup qualifier, a club spokesman said on Wednesday.

The 20-year-old was randomly selected for the dope test after a match against Serbian side Borac Cacak on August 14, although he had not played, and his test came back positive, said spokesman Kiril Petrov.

If results of a second test to be published on October 9 confirm the findings, Pavlov will be punished by the European football association UEFA, Petrov added.

In an interview with Darik radio, Pavlov said he had recently been treated for bronchopneumonia by an external doctor, who did not work with the team, and admitted he did not know what the drugs he was given may have contained.

“It's my fault, I made a mistake,” he said.