Maxim Levitsky’s recounting of Spartak Moscow’s doping era and the club’s medical oversight
Maxim Levitsky, the former goalkeeper for Spartak Moscow, recalled troubling memories tied to the club’s doping controversy and highlighted the role of the club’s then new team doctor. According to Ukrainian Football, Levitsky said the doctor claimed to have supplied a “wonderful medicine” that he described as a mere vitamin. The implication was that this so-called remedy had powerful effects, enough that it could only be administered on rare occasions in a player’s career. Levitsky also shared that when the doctor offered him pills, he refused politely but firmly, sticking to his own judgment and medical ethics in the face of pressure from medical staff in a professional sports environment.
The episode connects to a broader period when doping concerns surfaced within Spartak Moscow. In 2003, bromantane appeared in doping tests conducted at the headquarters of the Russian national team, involving several players from Spartak. Tests identified bromantane in the samples of players Yegor Titov and Yuri Kovtun, and Titov, who wore the captain’s armband for the Moscow club, received a one-year competitive ban as a consequence. Subsequent media reporting indicated that more than ten players from the Spartak squad were implicated in doping investigations during that era, underscoring a systemic challenge that reached beyond a single individual and raised questions about the club’s medical oversight and the management of athletes’ health in high-pressure competitive settings.
Levitsky’s tenure with Spartak Moscow spanned from 2001 to 2002, during which he made 49 official appearances and conceded 57 goals while recording 17 clean sheets. His departure from the club came roughly six months prior to the doping controversy that later dominated headlines. This timeline highlights how the club’s on-field achievements were intertwined with off-field issues that sparked debate about the responsibilities of coaching staff, medical personnel, and administrators in safeguarding athletes’ integrity and long-term health. The specifics of Levitsky’s experiences point to a broader narrative about how clubs handle medical decisions in the heat of competition and the pressures athletes face when medical guidance collides with performance expectations.
Leonid Fedun, a prominent figure associated with Spartak, had previously praised the club’s multimillion-dollar acquisition strategy, signaling the club’s ambitions to compete at the highest levels. His commentary reflects a broader aspiration in the organization to invest in top-tier talent and facilities, even as the club faced scrutiny over its medical practices and the ethics of performance-enhancing interventions. The juxtaposition of a high-profile transfer strategy with internal concerns about doping underscores the complexities modern football teams navigate when balancing competitive success with player welfare, compliance with anti-doping rules, and the reputational risks that come with controversial medical decisions. Through these intertwined threads, the era is remembered as a moment of intense scrutiny and learning for Spartak Moscow as it sought to maintain its status in Russian football while addressing serious health and ethics questions raised by the doping investigations.