Ukraine international Mykhailo Mudryk, one of the most expensive players in world football, risks missing the next European Championship if he loses his appeal against a four-year ban in a doping case.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport confirmed that the Chelsea winger, signed by the Premier League club for $108 million in 2023, had appealed against the four-year ban imposed by the English Football Association.
The parties exchanged written comments and no hearing has yet been scheduled, the court said.
There had been no update on the case since the FA said last June that Mudryk had been formally charged with “Anti-Doping Rule Breaches alleging the presence and/or use of a prohibited substance.” The exact substance involved has not been officially confirmed.
Mudryk said in December 2024 that he had “done nothing wrong” after it was confirmed he had provided a drug test sample that contained a banned substance. He hasn’t played since.
Mudryk has not commented on the matter since. He has posted footage of him training privately on social media in recent months and was seen with Chelsea fans last year as Chelsea won the Conference League final in Poland.
A four-year ban is the starting point for sanctions in a typical first doping case under World Anti-Doping Agency rules used in multiple Olympic sports.
Often the period is shortened due to extenuating circumstances, for example if an athlete has taken a contaminated supplement or made a mistake with medication, or if the athlete admits to a violation at an earlier stage.
Doping sanctions are generally implemented retroactively from the date an athlete was first provisionally suspended pending a full hearing. The next European Championship will take place in the summer of 2028 and will be jointly hosted by Great Britain and Ireland.
Mudryk sat out Ukraine’s recent World Cup qualifying campaign. Ukraine fell short of qualifying after losing to Sweden in the play-offs in March.
Mudryk was one of the most sought-after players in Europe when he was signed by Shakhtar Donetsk following competing interest from Chelsea’s London rivals Arsenal.
The 25-year-old from Ukraine has since scored ten goals in 73 appearances for Chelsea, but many of those appearances came from the bench and his time at the club was widely regarded as disappointing even before the doping case came to light.
Chelsea gave Mudryk an eight and a half year contract, an unusually long contract in modern football. It runs until 2031.
Published on May 1, 2026
