Chelsea winger Mykhailo Mudryk will submit an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) over his four-year ban for a failed drugs test.
The 25-year-old was charged with anti-doping rule violations by the Football Association in June last yr after a sample taken in 2024 produced an antagonistic finding for the prohibited substance meldonium, which might increase respiratory capability and stamina.
Mudryk said that the failed drugs test got here as a ‘complete shock’ as he had never knowingly used a banned substance.
The Ukraine international, who Chelsea signed in an £89 million deal from Shakhtar Donetsk in January 2023, has not played for Chelsea since November 2024.
CAS has confirmed it has received an appeal by Mudryk against the FA’s ruling, filed on February 25, 2026.
The statement from CAs added: ‘The parties are currently exchanging written submissions, and a hearing is yet to be scheduled.’
The FA has never disclosed details of the case or confirmed the length of Mudryk’s suspension.
Mudryk has been aiming to return to football and has been training individually with the assistance of a personal coach at non-league side Uxbridge FC.
Speaking this week, Shakhtar Donetsk CEO, Serhii Palkin, backed Mudryk to return and revealed the Ukranian side stand to lose €30m (£26m) if the winger is sidelined.
‘We have now €30 million [of] bonuses in his contract and if he is just not playing, if Chelsea [are] not reaching results, we’re losing €30m. That’s an enormous financial impact for us,’ Palkin said.
‘Due to this fact, everybody believes that this story will finish as soon as possible with positive results and Mudryk will return to playing. Otherwise, we shall be able to lose €30m.
‘I do know Mudryk as a player and an individual. I consider he’ll return and he’ll start playing. I do know this because I’ve never met this sort of guy before in my life. He’s a really hard employee. And he’ll prove he’s able to play and produce results to team.
‘But as I understand at this moment, everybody is waiting for the court’s decision, and we don’t have any details about when this can happen and when the ultimate decision shall be issued. Due to this fact, everybody is waiting for information.’
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