Chelsea’s Mudryk Free to Play Again as Doping Case Is Resolved

Chelsea winger Mykhailo Mudryk is free to return to competitive football with immediate effect after his doping case was resolved following changes to World Anti-Doping Agency testing rules.

The Ukraine international has not played since November 2024, when the Football Association provisionally suspended him after a routine urine test returned an adverse finding for the banned substance meldonium. He was later charged and, in April, handed a four-year ban, the longest in Premier League history. Mudryk maintained throughout that he had never knowingly used a banned substance and appealed the ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

According to a statement from the Football Association, changes made to a WADA technical document mean that if Mudryk’s sample were collected today, the concentration of meldonium found would not have triggered a violation. The FA said it and Mudryk, with WADA’s agreement, resolved the appeal under Article 10.8.2 of the World Anti-Doping Code, with Mudryk accepting that he had committed the violation and agreeing to a suspension equal to the time already served. “Mr Mudryk is no longer ineligible and may return to competition with immediate effect,” the FA said.

Reacting on Instagram, Mudryk said the four-year ban imposed on him had been rescinded and that he was grateful the process had reached a conclusion. He said he had never knowingly or intentionally taken a banned substance and thanked his family, friends and legal team for their support.

Chelsea said in a statement that the club understood how much the opportunity to return meant to Mudryk and that its focus was now on supporting his reintegration into the squad and his return to full fitness.

Mudryk joined Chelsea from Shakhtar Donetsk in January 2023 for an initial fee of £62 million and has a contract at the club until 2031. It is not yet clear when he will make his first appearance since the ban.