There’s been little else but silence around the case of Mykhailo Mudryk and his doping ban after testing positive for meldonium in late October of 2024. The winger was provisionally suspended by Chelsea that December, then formally charged by The English FA last June. The expectation was a standard 4-year ban, though it was not confirmed at the time.
Technically, that still hasn’t been confirmed, but according to Ben Jacobs, it is indeed a 4-year ban. Per standard procedure, these bans always take
“time served” into account (i.e. the 18 months that Mudryk’s been out of football already).
Also, according to Jacobs, Mudryk’s legal team have already filed an appeal against the ban at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), a couple months ago back in February. While there are no timelines set for a hearing or a potential decision, the appeal itself is sign that things are finally coming to a resolution slowly but surely.
As in the case of Paul Pogba, the expectation is that the appeal will reduce the length of the ban, perhaps cut it in half or maybe more. Pogba’s 4-year ban was reduced to 18 months on appeal. If that were to also happen in Mudryk’s case, the 25-year-old would be reinstated immediately: like a new signing then, eh?
Chelsea have not cut ties with our big-money signing who still has a contract through 2031. And unless his appeal is rejected, I’d expect that to remain the case. (If his appeal is rejected however, I’d imagine we’d break the contract for good.)
