Mykhailo Mudryk has filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport against a four-year ban imposed by the Football Association, CAS confirmed it received the case on 25 February 2026.
The ban followed a provisional suspension in December 2024 after an adverse finding in a routine urine test, a formal charge in June 2025 and a later decision by the FA to impose the maximum four-year sanction. Mudryk has not played a competitive match since scoring in a 2-0 win away at Heidenheim in the Conference League on 28 November 2024 and has been sidelined for nearly 18 months.
The numbers underline the profile at stake: a four-year ban that, if backdated to the start of Mudryk’s provisional suspension, would keep him out until around December 2028; his transfer from Shakhtar Donetsk to Chelsea in January 2023 for a fee reported as 70m euros and £88.5m; and a contract at Chelsea that still has five years remaining. Mudryk is being defended by Morgan Sports Law and has been training away from professional competition with a private coach and hired goalkeepers at non-league Uxbridge FC to keep fit.
Details of the case have not been publicly disclosed by the FA. A broadcaster that has reported on the matter says Mudryk came into contact with the cardiovascular medication meldonium while on duty with the Ukraine national team in October 2024, and a sports network reported the positive test was for the prohibited substance meldonium. Mudryk has described the failed test as a "complete shock," saying he had "never knowingly used any banned substances or broken any rules" and that he has "not done anything wrong."
CAS issued a statement acknowledging receipt of the appeal: "Cas confirms it has received an appeal by Mykhailo Mudryk against the FA, filed on 25 February 2026. The Parties are currently exchanging written submissions, and a hearing is yet to be scheduled." The exchange of written submissions is underway and no hearing date has been set.
The friction in the story is straightforward: Mudryk insists on his innocence and says the test result was unexpected, while reporting has linked the positive finding to meldonium exposure during international duty. The FA has not provided the public with the particulars of its decision, leaving a gap between the sanction it announced and the explanation Mudryk has offered through his legal team.
The immediate question now falls to CAS. Its handling of the appeal — whether it accepts Mudryk's explanation, reduces the sanction, or upholds the FA's four-year ban — will determine whether a player who has been out of competitive football since November 2024 can return before the ban would expire around December 2028. For Mudryk, who maintains his innocence and has kept training while the legal process unfolds, the CAS ruling will decide whether those nearly 18 months become the start of a career-ending absence or a stoppage that can be overturned on appeal.
