Mykhailo Mudryk has broken his silence on social media as he awaits an update on The Football Association's 'adverse finding' in a 'routine urine test'. The 23-year-old winger hasn't featured for Chelsea since the end of November.
He scored in his final game, firing the Blues to a 2-0 win over Heidenheim in the UEFA Conference League. Mudryk had enjoyed an excellent start to the European campaign, netting three goals and providing three assists in four games.
Then, in December, Chelsea confirmed that the FA had been in contact with the Ukraine international regarding a drugs test. Mudryk strongly denied any wrongdoing in an official statement, claiming he's 'never knowingly used any banned substances or broken any rules'.
Enzo Maresca backed the Blues ace shortly after he was handed a provisional ban. The Chelsea boss said: "It's not the first time that something like this has happened.
"It has already happened in the past. I think they know exactly what they have to do and this is the reason that we trust and support Mykhailo. If you say trust, what does it mean?
"We trust Mykhailo, and we support Mykhailo and trust means that we believe Mykhailo. We trust Mykhailo and we support him. What Mykhailo said and what we said is that we trust him and support him."
When asked if he believes Mudryk, who joined Chelsea from Shakhtar Donetsk for an initial £62m two-years ago, is innocent, Maresca replied: "We all believe that, then we'll see."
Until now, Mudryk has remained silent since he first addressed the provisional ban back in December. Under a post recently uploaded to the club's official Instagram account, looking back to Chelsea's 2-0 win over Fulham last season, the Ukrainian posted a crying emoji.
Mudryk fired the Blues to victory when they last met their west London rivals at Craven Cottage back in October 2023. Nearly 18 months on, the winger will be unavailable for selection when Chelsea face Fulham on Sunday afternoon.
The Athletic reported that Mudryk tested positive for 'meldonium'. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) describe the substance as an anti-ischemia medication. Maria Sharapova tested positive for meldonium in March 2016.
The former world tennis number one was banned for 24 months but, after a successful appeal, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) reduced the suspension to 15 months. Alexander Povetkin also tested positive for meldonium in 2016.
As a result, his heavyweight title bout against Deontay Wilder was postponed indefinitely. More recently, Paul Pogba was suspended by Italy's national anti-doping tribunal (Nado) in February after a random drug test found increased levels of testosterone in his system.
The 32-year-old appealed the ruling to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, who reduced the sanction from four years to 18 months, starting from September 2023. He was under contract at Juventus until June 2026, but the two parties mutually agreed to terminate his deal – and he remains a free agent.
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