Mykhailo Mudryk is free to resume his professional football career after the Football Association confirmed his anti-doping suspension has been fully resolved.
The 25-year-old Chelsea winger has not featured in a competitive match since the Blues’ victory away at Heidenheim back in November 2024, a lengthy absence now finally at an end.
The FA confirmed on Friday that disciplinary proceedings against Mudryk were resolved with the agreement of the World Anti-Doping Agency on 30 July 2026, allowing him to return immediately.
Mudryk had originally been handed a four-year ban following a positive test for meldonium, a prohibited substance detected during an out-of-competition doping control on 22 October 2024.
The FA notified Mudryk of the finding on 4 December 2024 and charged him with Anti-Doping Rule Violations in breach of its 2024 Anti-Doping Regulations on 23 May 2025.
An independent Regulatory Commission held a hearing between 7 and 9 January 2026, found Mudryk guilty, and imposed a four-year period of ineligibility, which the winger subsequently appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
A key development in resolving the case came through changes made to WADA’s technical document, which raised the reporting threshold for meldonium to provide greater confidence in positive results.
The FA confirmed that under the updated scientific standards, the concentration of meldonium found in Mudryk’s sample would not have been reported and no anti-doping rule violation would have resulted if collected today.
As part of the agreed resolution, Mudryk accepted that he committed the charged violations and accepted a period of ineligibility equal to the time already served, meaning he is no longer banned.
Chelsea released a statement saying: “From the outset, this has been an extremely difficult period for Misha, both professionally and personally, and we are pleased that the matter has now reached a conclusion which allows him to return to football with immediate effect.”
The club added: “Misha has consistently maintained that he never knowingly or intentionally used a prohibited substance and did not know how traces of the substance entered his system.”
Chelsea also welcomed the acknowledgement that advances in scientific reporting standards meant Mudryk’s sample, under today’s technical requirements, would not have triggered a positive test result.
Mudryk himself broke his silence on Instagram, saying: “After a long battle, the four-year ban that was imposed on me has been rescinded and I am free to resume my career with immediate effect.”
He added: “As I have always maintained from the outset of this case, I have never knowingly or intentionally taken any banned substance. My commitment to competing fairly and representing my club and country with professionalism and integrity has always been important to me.”
The source of the substance has not been formally identified, but Mudryk maintained throughout the entire process that he had no awareness of consuming any prohibited substance.
Mudryk is now set to fly to Hong Kong to join the Chelsea squad ahead of their pre-season friendly against Juventus on 5 August, marking the start of his return to competitive football.
