Ibrahimovic to sue former athletics coach

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is suing a Swedish former athletics coach who said he believed the soccer star had taken banned substances to gain weight while playing for Juventus.

Ibrahimovic's lawyer Fredrik Bogren told Swedish news agency TT he would file a lawsuit Monday against Ulf Karlsson for comments he made at a panel discussion in the city of Karlstad last week.

Local paper Nya Wermlandstidningen quoted Karlsson as saying "Zlatan gained 10 kilograms in half a year at Juventus. I think he doped."

Karlsson later apologised saying his statements were unclear and unfortunate.

But Bogren said the allegations were "untrue, groundless and very serious for Ibrahimovic as an individual and athlete as well as in relation to his sponsors and co-operation partners."

Ibrahimovic, who is currently at Paris Saint-Germain, played for Juventus in 2004-2006.