Chelsea winger Mykhailo Mudryk has been handed a four-year ban by the Football Association after being found guilty of a doping offence, with the Ukrainian immediately taking his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The 25-year-old has been sidelined since late 2024 after an adverse finding in a routine drug test. The substance involved was reportedly meldonium, which is prohibited under anti-doping regulations. CAS has confirmed that it received Mudryk’s appeal against the FA on 25 February 2026, with written submissions now being exchanged and no hearing date yet fixed.
The suspension is expected to be backdated to the start of his provisional ban, meaning that, unless his appeal succeeds, Mudryk would not be eligible to return until around December 2028. He is also barred from training with Chelsea during the period of ineligibility.
Mudryk has consistently denied knowingly taking any banned substance and is being represented by Morgan Sports Law, the same firm involved in Paul Pogba’s successful appeal, when the French midfielder’s four-year ban was reduced to 18 months.
For Chelsea, the case is a major sporting and financial blow. Mudryk joined from Shakhtar Donetsk in January 2023 in a deal worth up to around €101 million, but his career in London has now been placed in serious uncertainty. His last appearance for the club came in November 2024.
The appeal will now determine whether Mudryk can clear his name, secure a reduction, or face the full weight of the four-year sanction. Until CAS rules, one of Chelsea’s most expensive signings remains in limbo, with his future at Stamford Bridge hanging by a legal thread.
