Chelsea star denies wrongdoing after club confirms failed drug test

Chelsea’s £89m winger Mykhailo Mudryk has denied any wrongdoing after the Ukraine international tested positive for a banned substance.

The Premier League confirmed on Tuesday that they had been notified by the Football Association of Mudryk’s test result, which could carry a ban of up to four years.

“I can confirm that I have been notified that a sample I provided to the FA contained a banned substance,” said the 23-year-old.

“This has come as a complete shock as I have never knowingly used any banned substances or broken any rules, and am working closely with my team to investigate how this could have happened.

“I know that I have not done anything wrong and remain hopeful that I will be back on the pitch soon. I cannot say any more now due to the confidentiality of the process, but I will as soon as I can.”

Reports in his native Ukraine on Monday said Mudryk had returned the positive test in a sample given in October. 

He last played for Chelsea on 28 November, when he scored his third goal of the season against Heidenheim in the Conference League.

“Chelsea Football Club can confirm that the Football Association recently contacted our player Mykhailo Mudryk concerning an adverse finding in a routine urine test,” the club said.

“Both the club and Mykhailo fully support the FA’s testing programme and all our players, including Mykhailo, are regularly tested.”

Mudryk has endured a difficult time at Chelsea since they won a bidding war with Arsenal for his signature from Shakhtar Donetsk in January 2023.

The Blues agreed to pay £62m up front plus a further £26.5m in performance-related bonuses for a player who was at the time one of the most sought-after in Europe.

If found guilty of deliberately taking a banned substance, Mudryk could be banned for four years.

Should he able to prove that he ingested it by accident through no fault, the punishment could range from two years to a reprimand.

Chelsea experienced one of the most notorious drug cases in football this century when Romanian forward Adrian Mutu was banned for seven months in 2004 for taking cocaine.

The Blues sacked Mutu and the two parties spent years waging a legal battle over the financial ramifications.