Chelsea winger Mykhailo Mudryk is free to resume playing immediately after the Football Association resolved his doping case, ending a 20-month absence from competitive football.
The 25-year-old Ukraine international had been provisionally suspended since returning an adverse analytical finding for the banned substance meldonium in an out-of-competition test while on international duty in October 2024. The FA later imposed a four-year ban, which Mudryk appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
In a statement on Friday, the FA said anti-doping disciplinary proceedings had been resolved. Mudryk accepted he had broken anti-doping rules and agreed to a suspension matching the time already served. He can now return to all forms of competition “with immediate effect.”
The governing body noted the test detected only a low concentration of the cardiovascular medication. Changes to World Anti-Doping Agency technical documents mean that the same sample tested under current guidelines would not have produced an adverse finding or triggered a violation. Those changes are not applied retroactively.
Mudryk said he was “grateful” to be able to return after “the most difficult period” of his career. “As I have always maintained from the outset of this case, I have never knowingly or intentionally taken any banned substance,” he added. He expressed “deep gratitude” to everyone at Chelsea and said he was looking forward to the “next chapter” of his career.
Chelsea said the club was “pleased that the matter has now reached a conclusion which allows him to return to football with immediate effect.”
The Blues confirmed they had supported the player throughout while respecting the anti-doping system and legal process, and noted the testing advances as “an important part of the context.”
Mudryk, contracted until 2031 after joining from Shakhtar Donetsk in a deal worth an initial €70 million in January 2023, will join the club’s pre-season tour as he works to regain full fitness and return to the squad.
