Having joined ‌Chelsea in January 2023 for an initial fee of €70 million, Mudryk was provisionally suspended in ‌December 2024. | Photo Credit: AP

Chelsea forward Mykhailo Mudryk has approached the Court of Arbitration ​for Sport (CAS) to appeal against a four-year ‌doping ban handed to him by ​England’s Football Association (FA), British ⁠media reported on Wednesday.

The Ukrainian was charged with anti-doping rule violations in June last year ‌after a sample taken in 2024 produced an adverse finding ‌for a prohibited substance, reported ‌to ⁠be meldonium. Mudryk had said that ⁠the adverse finding came as a “complete shock” as he had never knowingly used a banned ​substance.

Having joined ‌Chelsea in January 2023 for an initial fee of €70 million ($81.83 million), Mudryk was provisionally suspended in ‌December 2024 and the 25-year-old has ​not played since.

“CAS confirms it has received an appeal by ⁠Mykhailo Mudryk against the FA, filed on 25 February 2026,” it said in ‌a statement to the BBC and the Times.

“The parties are currently exchanging written submissions, and a hearing is yet to be scheduled.”

The FA said it could not comment because the ‌case is ongoing. Reuters has contacted CAS ​for comment.

Meldonium is the same substance Maria Sharapova tested positive for, ⁠with the Russian tennis player initially being ⁠banned by the International Tennis Federation for two years before an ‌appeal led to her suspension being reduced to 15 months.

Published on Apr 29, 2026