COMMENTS BY FORMER Arsenal midfielder Andrei Arshavin suggesting all athletes competing in certain Olympic sports use banned performance-enhancing drugs rattled Russia’s media on Wednesday as the country remains embroiled in doping scandals.
Arshavin, in an interview with a Kazakh news site published late Tuesday, said athletic success in “cyclic sports”, which require repetitive movements, was “simply impossible without doping.”
His comments come as Russia is entangled in a series of doping scandals that saw nearly its whole athletics team sidelined from the Rio Games and a handful of other competitors suspended.
“It’s simply impossible without doping,” Arshavin told Prosport in Kazakhstan, where the 35-year-old is playing for Kairat Almaty.
“That means swimming, skiing, cycling. I think everyone dopes.”
The former captain of the Russian national team said that football and hockey, sports his country takes deep pride in, are relatively unaffected by doping.
He added that politics was behind the ban against some Russian athletes from Rio.
Russia is paying for its political decisions, including in sport,” he said in comments widely picked up by Russian media.
“Is it fair or unfair? Life isn’t fair.”
Russian officials deny any state involvement in doping cover-ups and dismissed the accusations in a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) report that the sports ministry and the Russian secret service manipulated samples at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
The country narrowly escaped a blanket ban from the Rio Olympics last month when the International Olympic Committee left it up to international sports federations to determine which Russians were eligible to compete while granting itself a final say.
Russia is now contesting a ban against its Paralympic Committee that could see all Russian competitors miss the Paralympic Games in Rio next month.
Arshavin — who began his career with Zenit Saint Petersburg — won three Russian titles, two Russian Cups, the 2008 UEFA Cup and UEFA Super Cup with the club.
He signed with Kairat earlier this year, but his new club crashed out of the Europa League at the qualification stages last month after a 3-2 aggregate defeat to Israeli side Maccabi Tel Aviv.
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Congratulations to Kerry….If only Fungie was around to see it…
Congratulations from a Dub. Can’t wait to see Dublin and Kerry go at it again in the Champo. Hopefully it happens and happens in the final.
@Thomas Quinn: agreed. Always happy to see Kerry won silverware so long as it’s not at Dublin’s expense
@my name: how is Kerry winning the league not at Dublin’s (and every other team in the divisions) expense. Did Dublin win the league too? Congrats :-D
@Thomas Quinn: Competition is a joke. Meaningless.
Well 2020 is even stranger now wicklow promoted to div 3
Mup wickla
@Alan Carthy: Some going by Limerick to win the division with a zero score difference
@G: and wicklow +39 lol
Bit of a damp squib with Donegal leaving their key players at home ahead of next weeks championship outing against Tyrone.
@Justin Gillespie: well that it may have been but the correct decision obviously with the big game next weekend & safe from relegation. Imagine fielding a strong team & lad’s getting injured for nothing really, the manager would have finger’s pointed for sure so sound decision
@Noel Doherty: do people not want to win the league? Why bother play it so and just set a longer period for club players
@Justin Gillespie: Joke to be fair
Ref was a disgrace. Both those goals started in an offside position. Were is var when u need it.
@john s: offside position
What the f eck are you on about you flute
@john s: Loads of knock ons and forward passes not picked up by the TMO. Shocking stuff.
@Cian Nolan: Serious amount of handball too. Can’t understand how both sides got away with it?
@Gerard Martin: up th4 kingdom
@Ger Lyons: every time
@Cian Nolan: Numerous hand ball incidents not picked up..
Big win, heavy defeat.
Could this be fungi who was washed up in Donegal this morning ?
Sadness as dolphin washed up on West Donegal beach
written by Staff Writer
https://www.donegaldaily.com/