Chelsea winger Mykhailo Mudryk has been formally charged by the Football Association with doping offences and could face a ban of up to four years.
Mudryk hasn’t played since he was provisionally suspended in December 2024 after failing a drug test. His last appearance for Chelsea came in the November, while the ban in place has meant he hasn’t even been able to train at the club’s base in Cobham.
His provided sample was found to contain Meldonium, a banned performance-enhancing substance. Over the last six months, there has been a nervous wait while a ‘B’ sample was analysed.
But the FA have now seen enough to charge the player.
“We can confirm that Mykhailo Mudryk has been charged with anti-doping rule violations alleging the presence and/or use of a prohibited substance, in terms of regulations 3 and 4 of the FA’s anti-doping regulations,” an FA statement given to the Telegraph explained.
“As this is an ongoing case, we are not in a position to comment further at this time.”
Mudryk could be suspended from football, globally, for up to four years. That is the ban length that Paul Pogba received when he found guilty of a doping offence in 2023. That suspension was eventually reduced to 18 months after an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Mudryk, who maintains he didn’t knowingly break any rules, is reported to have hired the same legal firm as Pogba did to work on his case.
Costing an initial £62 million ($83.5 million) to sign from Shakhtar Donetsk, the Ukraine international has a contract with Chelsea until 2031. But if issued with a long ban, it remains to be seen what the club’s position would be. Mudryk turned 24 in January and is at risk of losing his peak years.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as FA Charge Mykhailo Mudryk With Doping Offence, Facing Substantial Ban.
