The agent of Zlatan Ibrahimovic is threatening to sue a former Swedish track and field coach for speculating that the Paris Saint-Germain striker doped during his time at Juventus.
Ulf Karlsson, who was the head coach of Sweden's national athletics team from 2001 to 2004, said during a sports conference this week that he thinks Ibrahimovic, 34, doped in order to bulk up so quickly at Juve.
Sweden captain Ibrahimovic, who is out of contract at PSG this summer, represented the Serie A side from 2004 to 2006 after leaving Ajax.
"Zlatan gained 10 kilos of muscle in six months at Juventus. That is impossible in such a short time," Karlsson was quoted as saying by local newspaper Nya Wermlands-Tidning.
Karlsson acknowledged that he had no proof of doping and was only speculating, adding that Juventus previously used a doctor who was jailed for doping offences.
Mino Raiola, Ibrahimovic's agent, said his client plans to take legal action against Karlsson over the claims.
"We are going to sue him. I'm not an expert on Swedish law, but we have a Swedish lawyer," Raiola told Swedish newspaper Expressen. "There will always be haters. Maybe he is a former athlete who didn't make it. Maybe he is jealous."
Raiola added that Ibrahimovic has been tested regularly throughout his career, including between 15 and 20 times at Juventus, without testing positive
"The doping scandal at Juventus was already over when Zlatan arrived. We had plenty of doping controls at Juventus," Raiola said. "This is ridiculous. We can prove this isn't true. Every club Zlatan has played for knows he doesn't even take aspirin."