Akbarov began skating in 1968 at the Lokomotiv Skating Club in Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg) with coach Alexander Rogin. He teamed up with
Veronica Pershina in 1975. The pair moved to Moscow in 1978 to train with
Stanislav Zhuk. They won the World Junior title in 1979 ahead of
Larisa Selezneva /
Oleg Makarov. In 1980, Pershina/Akbarov made their senior World Championship debut, placing 6th. The following season, they won the Soviet national title ahead of
Irina Vorobieva /
Igor Lisovski. The pair changed coaches to
Irina Rodnina in 1982. Pershina/Akbarov were gold medalists at the 1982
Prize of Moscow News and 1983
NHK Trophy. In 1985, they were sent to their fourth
European Championships and won the bronze medal. They took silver at the
Skate Canada International in their final season. After retiring from competition, Akbarov performed with the Russian All Stars under the direction of
Tatiana Tarasova, before becoming a coach. He coaches at the Wheaton Ice Skating Academy in
Wheaton, Maryland. == Personal life ==