Manchester United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic wins libel case against Swedish athletics coach who suggested he ‘was taking steroids’ during his time playing for Juventus
However, the £2,175 payment from Ulf Karlsson will barely be noticed in Zlatan's huge pay packet each month
ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC has won a libel case against a former Swedish athletics coach who suggested he had taken steroids.
A Swedish court found former national track and field team manager Ulf Karlsson guilty of aggravated libel against the Manchester United striker today for suggesting he used performance-enhancing substances.
The district court in Karlstad ordered Karlsson to pay a fine of £2,175 (24,000 Swedish kronor) for comments, at an April 2016 panel discussion, about what he called a sudden weight gain by the 35-year-old, who is Sweden's top goalscorer.
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In its verdict the court wrote: "The court's opinion is that in the context of what was said Ulf Karlsson gave the impression that Zlatan Ibrahimovic was doping during his time at Juventus.
"Even if his remarks do not contain a direct accusation that Zlatan had taken steroids, the court finds that these remarks, given the context in which they were made, can not be taken any other way than to give the impression that Zlatan would have taken steroids during his time at Juventus."
The Swedish striker played for the Italian outfit between 2004 and 2006.
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During a public debate on doping in April, Ulf Karlsson hinted at drug use when he said the striker had "put on 10 kilos (22 pounds) of muscle mass ... in one year."
Karlsson had pleaded innocent, but the Karlstad court found in favour of Ibrahimovic, ruling that the remarks had been damaging to the player's reputation.
The much-travelled Ibrahimovic, 35, also played for clubs including Ajax, Inter Milan, Barcelona, AC Milan and Paris Saint-Germain before joining Manchester United last July.