The former Shakhtar Donetsk star Mykhailo Mudryk has not played since November 2024, when he failed a drug test while on international duty. He was handed an immediate provisional ban for failing the drug test, which then became a four-year ban.
BREAKING: The FA have handed Mykhailo Mudryk a four-year ban. It is now being appealed in CAS.
[via @JacobsBen] https://t.co/C9grjsjawX
— Absolute Chelsea (@AbsoluteChelsea) April 29, 2026
That four-year ban would mean Mudryk would not be eligible to play again until November 2028, which would be a long time out of the game and would make it difficult to make a full return to fitness at the top level.
Chelsea have appealed the ban
Details of Mudryk’s ban had been kept out of the public eye until recently. It is understood that Chelsea has appealed to CAS (The Court of Arbitration) over the four-year ban.
If the Blues are successful with the appeal, the Ukrainian international could reportedly be available to play again next year. He would then need to regain his full fitness, having still been out of the game for a long period.
Mudryk had a patchy career at Chelsea before the ban
Mudryk’s Chelsea career was patchy, to say the least, before he received the ban. When the winger arrived at the south west London club in 2023 for a reported initial fee of £62m, which could rise to £89m with add-ons, he was one of the hottest prospects in the European game.
He dazzled with Shakhtar in the Champions League, which led to interest from many of European football’s biggest names.
Unfortunately for Chelsea, Mudryk struggled to recreate the form he had shown at his previous club and never really nailed down a regular starting berth with the Blues. However, he made 73 appearances across all competitions, scoring 10 goals, with the 2023/24 season his most prolific, when he scored 7 times.
While Chelsea may not see Mudryk as part of the team’s playing future, he is an asset, so a four-year ban means that he cannot be sold. If the ban is upheld by the time Mudryk returns, then his value will have decreased massively, leaving the Blues massively out of pocket.