Andrey Arshavin believes sports such as swimming and cycling are rife with cheating, in comments that have attracted attention in Russia.
With Russia gripped by accusations of doping, former Arsenal midfielder Andrey Arshavin has suggested all athletes competing in certain Olympic sports take performance-enhancing drugs.
In an interview apparently conducted by a Kazakh sports news site, the outspoken Arshavin was quoted as saying that athletic success in "cyclic sports" — those that require constant repetitive movement — was "simply impossible without doping."
Arshavin's comments come amid the ongoing scandal in Russia that has seen some of the country's athletes banned from the Olympic Games following accusations of state-sponsored doping.