Chelsea winger Mykhailo Mudryk failed a drug test and his club have released a statement to that effect.
As part of their routine checks to ensure that players are not enhancing their physical performances with banned substances, football governing bodies worldwide test players in their countries and confederations at random.
The latest tests carried out by the Football Association (FA), England’s football governing body, involved Mudryk. The former Shakhtar Donetsk man would end up testing positive for a banned substance which would spark lots of media coverage on the state of the physical preparation methods employed by Chelsea players in light of their positive form across all competitions.
A statement from the club has made media rounds since the news about Mudryk’s failed drugs test. It reads: “Chelsea Football Club can confirm the Football Association recently contacted our player Mykhailo Mudryk concerning an adverse finding in a routine urine test.
“Both the Club and Mykhailo fully support The FA’s testing programme and all our players, including Mykhailo, are regularly tested. Mykhailo has confirmed categorically that he has never knowingly used any banned substances. Both Mykhailo and the Club will now work with the relevant authorities to establish what has caused the adverse finding.
“The Club will not be commenting any further.”
After the statement was put out, fresh reports emerged that the so-called banned substance was traced back to Ukraine’s last international outing in which they invited the young winger to be a part of. This has led Chelsea to state categorically that they are not responsible for the incident which translates to their pushing the responsibility to the Ukrainian football body.
The drug Mudryk reportedly tested positive for is melodonium, which is the same drug that Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova tested positive for in 2016 which led to her ban from the sport for 15 months (reduced from 24 months after an appeal). It is not available in Western Europe, which gives credence to Chelsea’s denial of any knowledge of Mudryk’s involvement with the drug.
The player issued a statement himself insisting that he “never knowingly” used a banned substance. A post on Instagram read: “I can confirm that I have been notified that a sample I provided to The FA contained a banned substance.
“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.”
