Russia's Cheryshev cleared of wrongdoing by anti-doping agency

BARCELONA (Reuters) - Spain's anti-doping agency has closed its investigation into Russia and Valencia winger Denis Cheryshev, who fell under suspicion after his father Dmitri told Russian media that his son had taken an injection containing "growth hormone" to treat an injury.

(Reuters)

"The AEPSAD has closed the investigation, the decision has been communicated to the player, the Russian anti-doping agency and the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA)," a spokesman for the Spanish Agency for Health Protection in Sport, which is responsible for the fight against doping, told Reuters.

Cheryshev, who scored four goals in Russia’s surprise run to the World Cup quarter-finals, has denied ever taking a banned substance

“I have never used any prohibited substances and you don’t even have to think twice about it, ” he said during the World Cup.

The player shared a letter from the AEPSAD on his official Twitter account on Thursday which stated the case had been closed after "no signs of irregular conduct were found".

The investigation stemmed from an interview which Dmitri Cheryshev gave to Russian publication Sport Weekend during the World Cup, in which he was quoted saying his son had received an injection containing “growth hormone” in the run-up to the June 14 - July 15 tournament to treat an injury.

The Russian Football Union (RFU) said at the time that the treatment the player received had been a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection which is legal and said the journalist had incorrectly interpreted Dmitri Cheryshev’s words.

(Reporting by Richard Martin, editing by Pritha Sarkar)