Chelsea winger Mykhailo Mudryk responds to four-year ban for failed drugs test | Football

Chelsea winger Mykhailo Mudryk will submit an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) over his four-year ban for a failed drugs test.

The 25-year-old was charged with anti-doping rule violations by the Football Association in June last year after a sample taken in 2024 produced an adverse finding for the prohibited substance meldonium, which can increase respiratory capacity and stamina.

Mudryk said that the failed drugs test came as a ‘complete shock’ as he had never knowingly used a banned substance.

The Ukraine international, who Chelsea signed in an £89 million deal from Shakhtar Donetsk in January 2023, has not played for Chelsea since November 2024.

CAS has confirmed it has received an appeal by Mudryk against the FA’s ruling, filed on February 25, 2026.

The statement from CAs added: ‘The parties are currently exchanging written submissions, and a hearing is yet to be scheduled.’

The FA has never disclosed details of the case or confirmed the length of Mudryk’s suspension.

Mudryk has been aiming to return to football and has been training individually with the help of a private coach at non-league side Uxbridge FC.

Speaking this week, Shakhtar Donetsk CEO, Serhii Palkin, backed Mudryk to return and revealed the Ukranian side stand to lose €30m (£26m) if the winger is sidelined.

‘We have €30 million [of] bonuses in his contract and if he is not playing, if Chelsea [are] not reaching results, we are losing €30m. That’s a big financial impact for us,’ Palkin said.

‘Therefore, everybody believes that this story will finish as soon as possible with positive results and Mudryk will return to playing. Otherwise, we will be in a position to lose €30m.

‘I know Mudryk as a player and a person. I believe he will return and he will start playing. I know this because I’ve never met this kind of guy before in my life. He’s a very hard worker. And he will prove he’s in a position to play and bring results to team.

‘But as I understand at this moment, everybody is waiting for the court’s decision, and we don’t have any information about when this will take place and when the final decision will be issued. Therefore, everybody is waiting for information.’

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