MYKHAILO MUDRYK appears to be missing life on the pitch amid his suspension following a failed drugs test.
Mudryk, 24, is currently out of action after he was hit with a provisional suspension after he provided a positive result for an A-sample in late October.
The winger and Chelsea are now awaiting the result of the B-sample, which will confirm the original test if it also comes back positive – potentially leading to a FOUR YEAR ban.
Mudryk has denied any wrongdoing, but hasn’t played for the Blues since November.
And it looks like he is itching to return to the Stamford Bridge surface as he commented on Chelsea’s Instagram post throwing back to their clash Fulham last season.
Mudryk scored in that game, joining Armando Broja on the scoresheet curing a 2-0 victory at Craven Cottage.
And ahead of another visit to face the Cottagers, the £89m man posted a crying emoji underneath Chelsea’s post of the previous fixture.
Mudryk hasn’t played football since November 2024, in a 2-0 victory over Heidenheim in the Uefa Conference League.
He’s kept a low profile since his suspension, but was spotted ringside for the Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury fight in Saudi Arabia last December.
After his positive test was initially announced, Mudryk defended himself on Instagram.
He wrote: “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.”
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca has publicly declared the club’s backing of the forward too.
He said: “We support and we trust Misha. Trust means that we believe Misha.
“We support Misha and then we see. We are all sad. Me, the club, the players, we are all there.”
What drug did Mudryk take?
By SunSport’s Joshua Jones
MYKHAILO MUDRYK returned a positive sample for a drugs test in October.
The Chelsea winger could face a ban for up to four years – because the drug was a performance-enhancing substance.
It is alleged Mudryk had the drug meldonium in his system.
Meldonium – aka mildronate – is a metabolic modulator similar to insulin and is widely used in Eastern Europe.
It is used in heart disease therapy but is also claimed to enable athletes to withstand greater stress, use oxygen more sparingly and restore energy levels quickly.
Meldonium was added to the World Anti-Doping Agency banned list in January 2016 following its high prevalence at the 2015 European Games in Baku.
Just months later, former tennis world No1 and Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova was banned for two years by the International Tennis Federation – although this was later cut to 15 months on appeal.
Sharapova had been taking the drug for ten years for various health issues and claimed she was unaware it had been added to the banned list.
Also in 2016, Russian boxer Alexander Povetkin was found to have traces of meldonium in his system before he was due to fight fellow heavyweight world champion Deontay Wilder.
Read the full article here
