Chelsea winger Mykhailo Mudryk has been provisionally suspended from football after being informed by the Football Association of a positive drugs test.
The 23-year-old has missed the club’s last five matches and has not featured since the Europa Conference League match on November 28. Manager Enzo Maresca attributes the Ukrainian’s absence to illness.
However, it is understood that Mudryk is not available for selection due to a suspected adverse analytical finding. FA rules state that a player who is informed of a test result may subsequently be provisionally suspended. They then have the opportunity to respond with an explanation before a decision is made on possible charges.
Chelsea is said to have started an investigation. Reports in Ukraine that the substance is meldonium are considered correct by Mail Sport. Mudryk is known to have undergone a test in August that came back clear and insists he has not changed his behavior since then.
It is believed that a possible contamination occurred outside the country as meldonium is not available in Britain. Mudryk is still waiting on the result of a ‘B’ sample and whether or not it confirms the findings of his ‘A’ sample.
It is believed that the player cooperates with his club and supports his explanation.
Mykhailo Mudryk has reportedly been suspended from football after being informed of a positive drug test
The Ukrainian winger has not featured for Chelsea since late November, with manager Enzo Maresca blaming his absence on illness
Chelsea shared a statement on Tuesday morning, writing: ‘Chelsea Football Club can confirm that the Football Association recently contacted our player Mykhailo Mudryk regarding an adverse finding on a routine urine test.
“Both the Club and Mykhailo fully support the FA’s testing program and all our players, including Mykhailo, are tested regularly. Mykhailo has categorically confirmed that he has never knowingly used banned substances. Both Mykhailo and the Club will now work with the relevant authorities to determine what caused the negative finding.
‘The Club does not wish to comment further.’
The player himself broke his silence shortly after the club’s statement on social media, saying the negative finding had come as a ‘complete shock’.
“I can confirm that I have been informed that a sample I provided to the FA contained a banned substance,” Mudryk posted on Instagram.
‘This came as a complete shock as I have never knowingly used banned substances or broken any rules, and I am working closely with my team to investigate how this could have happened.
‘I know I have done nothing wrong and remain hopeful that I will be back on the field soon. “I can’t say more now due to the confidentiality of the process, but I will do it as soon as possible (blue heart emoji).”
Mail Sport has been in contact with a specialist sports law firm acting on Mudryk’s behalf since Friday and has been repeatedly told that the player has not been charged with a doping offence. They have been contacted again for comment.
Mudryk showed off his frame on Instagram in a recent upload from a lift in his London home
The 23-year-old has played a huge role in Chelsea’s Europa Conference League campaign
Mudryk has played just one Premier League match this season, despite being a regular in the Conference League. In his last appearance, at German side Heidenheim, he scored in a 2-0 win.
He has since been an unused substitute against Aston Villa, before being left out of the squad for games against Southampton, Tottenham, Brentford and last week’s Conference League trip to Kazakhstan to face Astana.
Mudryk has not been training at Cobham in the meantime.
Speaking to reporters before the 4-3 win over Spurs on December 6, Maresca said: ‘The other one [to miss out] who is still ill is Misha Mudryk and the rest are doing well.’
On December 15, Maresca told Chelsea’s website: ‘Carney (Chukwuemeka) after Astana was sick, Chilly (Ben Chilwell) was sick. Pedro (Neto) got suspended and then we had Reece (James) and Wes (Fofana) injured, and unfortunately Benoit (Badiashile) felt something during the session yesterday, and Misha (Mudryk) is out too.”
The Blues head coach will next speak to reporters on Wednesday, ahead of the club’s Conference League match with Shamrock Rovers on Thursday evening, with Chelsea hosting an open training session on the same day at 3pm.
Mudryk was one of the hottest clubs in Europe when he joined Stamford Bridge from Shakhtar Donetsk early last year for a fee of up to £88 million, with Arsenal among those in the hunt for his services.
Limited by his country, he signed an eight-year contract with his new club in a busy January transfer window. But of his 53 Premier League appearances, only 26 have come as a starter, with the player never quite securing a place in his manager’s first team.
Despite a lack of league action this year, Mudryk has made a goal contribution in every league match in Europe, scoring three goals in as many games.