Dr. Ulf Karlsson said the words. They’re out there now and no going back.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is a divisive, love/hate character.
Some see him as arrogant and stand-offish. Others respect his footballing genius and his unwillingness to be compromised.
Others love the fact that he once threw Gennaro Gattuso in a bin.
Comments made by Dr. Karlsson at a sports conference, in Sweden, have been picked up by local media and are filtering across the continent. The doctor was previous in charge of Sweden’s national athletics squad.
According to Sportbladet, who have run an extensive piece on Karlsson’s comments, the doctor questioned the dramatic physical change the striker underwent as a 23-year-old when with Juventus. He said:
“Ibrahimovic put on 10 kilograms [muscle] in six months during his spell with Juventus. I think he was doping, that’s what it seems like to me.”
“It’s impossible to put on so much muscle in such a short time.
“Albin Ekdal, at the same club, put on eight kilograms, too. I believe there was that culture at Juventus at that time – they had a doctor [Riccardo Agricola] who had previously been suspended for 22 months.”
Returning to the subject, later in the conference, Dr. Karlsson stated he was “convinced” about the Swedish striker doping despite no tests at the time implicating him.
SportsJOE have contacted Ibrahimovic’s management company. At present, we are awaiting an official reply.
However, Mino Raiola, who is the Swede’s agent told Swedish publication Expressen that a lawsuit is in the offing. Raiola declared:
“We will sue him. I’m not an expert, but we have a Swedish lawyer. We are not saying who the lawyer is. That will come later.
“There are always people who hate. Maybe [Dr Karlsson] is a former athlete who failed. Maybe he’s jealous.
“This man has made a big mistake. He will have had a life before this statement, and a life after it. He is spreading falsehoods.
“We had plenty of doping controls at Juventus. Zlatan was tested between fifteen and twenty times. He was tested all the time. Juventus were put under the microscope.
“It’s ridiculous. The facts are not there. We can prove that it is not true.
“At all the clubs Zlatan has been at, he doesn’t even take aspirin.
“Zlatan is calm. He’s more embarrassed that he missed a penalty [against Manchester City] yesterday. He said this is not the arena to respond to these kinds of allegations.”
It must be noted that Ibrahimovic has never failed a drug test in his career and, as he stated, Karlsson has brought no evidence to bear.
*This article is updated from a post originally posted at 12:51 today
