Izuchukwu OkosiChelsea forward Mykhailo Mudryk charged by The FA for anti-doping violations on Wednesday and could face up to a four-year ban.
The Ukraine international arrived from Shakhtar Donetsk after a transfer tug of war between Chelsea and Arsenal who initially made a bid for him first.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelChelsea hijacked the deal in the end leaving Arsenal to find a replacement.
The Gunners eventually settled for Brighton and Hoves Albion star Leandro Trossard who has been a success at The Emirates.
“We can confirm that Mykhailo Mudryk has been charged with Anti-Doping Rule Violations alleging the presence and/or use of a prohibited substance, in terms of Regulations 3 and 4 of The FA’s Anti-Doping Regulations. As this is an ongoing case, we are not in a position to comment further at this time,” a statement from the FA stated on Wednesday.
Mudryk was reported to have had the prohibited performance enhancing substance meldonium in his positive test.
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Chelsea launched their own investigation into the doping allegation last year and had been waiting for the results of the ‘B’ sample test to support or contradict the initial ‘A’ results.
Mudryk’s impending verdict was signalled when Chelsea handed influential star Cole Palmer his jersey number 10 ahead of the 2025/2026 season.
The England international, Palmer, wore the number 20 jersey last season.
The player or his representatives have not reached to the latest ruling from the FA.
Other Premier League players to have been punished for drug-related offences include Rio Ferdinand and Paul Pogba.
Meanwhile Chelsea will begin their 2025/2026 campaign with an opening day fixture against Crystal Palace.
The Premier League officially announced the fixtures for the Premier League next season on Wednesday morning with Arsenal’s game against Manchester United the peak of the games on Matchday 1.
The new Premier League season begins on 17 August and runs until May 24, 2026.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
