Former Blackpool striker Sergei Kornilenko has protested his innocence after being tested positive for a banned substance, his current club Krylya Sovetov Samara said Saturday.
Russian Football Union president Sergei Fursenko said this week that the Belarusian failed a test after his team won 1-0 at home to struggling Spartak Nalchik in March.
But Kornilenko refuted media reports that he had sought to cheat.
"Of course, it is unpleasant to see those articles appear," Kornilenko was quoted as saying by the website. "I can't understand how people write them without knowing the situation or providing any facts. All this is just nonsense and delirium."
Kornilenko, 28, also denied the violation was due to cold remedies he had taken.
"The doctors declared all the medicine they gave me, so there should be no problem."
Fursenko played down the incident, saying that he believed that Kornilenko had not acted improperly and was unlikely to face a lengthy ban.
“As far as I know, there was no intent on the part of the player,” he said. “The possible sanctions will not be too harsh. I think that it will be no more than three months.”
Later that day Kornilenko played a whole Premier League game for Krylya, where his side sent Spartak Nalchik to the first division with a goalless draw.
Russian anti-doping agency RUSADA will test Kornilenko’s second ‘B’ sample and provide the results to the Russian football authorities, who will decide on the length of a possible ban
Kornilenko played six English Premier League games on loan at Blackpool last season on loan from Zenit St. Petersburg, but failed to score.
He joined Krylya Sovetov in August and has since played 18 games, scoring nine goals. Since the game against Nalchik when he gave the positive doping test, Kornilenko has scored five times, with his goals giving Krylya Sovetov wins in their last two games as the Samara side fights relegation.
Kornilenko has 52 caps for Belarus and has scored 12 international goals.
