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."
"In my opinion, all cyclic sports are doping. It's simply impossible without doping. That means swimming, skiing, cycling. I think everyone dopes," he told prosportkz.kz. "Russia is paying for its political decisions, including in sport. Is it fair or unfair? Life isn't fair. Of course, this is a great tragedy for the athletes, especially the Olympians.
"For them, this is the World Cup and European Championship for footballers. We have every two years, with good players, earning good money at clubs, and they have the reverse. [They have] almost one or two chances in life to get an apartment, a normal premium. … Of course I understand them, they are not in the best condition now."
But while claiming that some sports are riddled with widespread doping, Arshavin — a former Arsenal playmaker who currently plies his trade with Kairat Almaty in Kazakhstan — insists that in team sports things are different.
"[There is doping] in football and hockey — to a lesser extent. In football, you cannot predict. In team sports, there's very little doping," he added.