Medal chance Ivan Stoitsov was part of the Bulgarian weightlifting team for the Olympics [EPA]

The weightlifters, many of whom were in contention for medals at the August Games, were tested during a training camp in the Balkan country on June 8-9, the federation said in a statement.

"The federation decided to withdraw the national weightlifting team, men and women, from the Olympics," the statement said.

The failed tests are a blow to Bulgaria which has been on a mission to clean up weightlifting's tarnished reputation after a series of doping scandals and suspensions at previous Olympics.

The 11 weightlifters tested positive for the banned anabolic substance methandienon, the federation said.

Among them were medal hopes Ivan Stoitsov, who took two gold medals at last year's world championships, and Velichko Cholakov who won bronze at the Athens Olympics in 2004.

Injury had already ruled out Milen Dobrev, another Bulgarian medal hope, who won the 94kg title in Athens.

"At the doorstep of the Beijing Games our hopes have been damaged, the work has become meaningless and the tears that were to be shed in front of the national flag are replaced by tears of helplessness," the Bulgarian federation said.

The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) declined to comment.

Previous tests

Bulgaria's reputation hit a low at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, where the weightlifting team were stripped of three golds and sent home in shame following positive drugs tests.

Only the former Soviet Union has won more medals than Bulgaria in weightlifting's major championships.

The Bulgarian Olympic Committee will meet on Monday to discuss the "doping scandal with the weightlifters", it said in a statement on its website.

The national federation's statement said the banned substance most likely reached the weightlifters' bodies through "contaminated" permitted recovery substances, such as proteins.

"Theoretically, taking it through food or ill intentions are not ruled out," it said.

Earlier this month, the IWF gave two-year suspensions to 11 Greek weightlifters who tested positive for a banned substance in March.

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