Cristian Volpato Faces Second Positive Cocaine Test
Cristian Volpato has returned a second positive test for cocaine after being stopped on Sydney’s Anzac Bridge in July, plunging one of Australian football’s brightest young stars into an off-field storm.
The Sydney Morning Herald revealed the development on Wednesday, with Football Australia confirming it is seeking independent verification of the result.
NSW Police later outlined the sequence of events from the night of July 21.
“He was subjected to a roadside drug test which allegedly returned a positive result for cocaine,” a police statement said. “A secondary sample of oral fluid was taken for further analysis.
“Following inquiries, on Tuesday 1 September 2026, a 22-year-old man was issued a Traffic Infringement Notice for drive motor vehicle with illicit drug present in oral fluid etc with a $722 fine.”
Volpato’s camp is preparing to fight.
The Socceroos attacker, through his lawyer Paul McGirr, maintains he has never knowingly taken the drug and is considering an appeal against the infringement.
“Our client has never touched cocaine and strenuously denies consuming it ever,” McGirr told the Herald.
The Herald also reports Volpato has told people close to him he believes his drink may have been spiked that night.
The incident capped a chaotic evening for the 22-year-old. His international driver’s licence has already been suspended for six months after he was clocked driving almost 50km/h over the speed limit on the same night.
He was stopped twice in the same spot while driving a BMW across Anzac Bridge, telling police he had been at a party in Sydney’s CBD.
Within 24 hours of being charged, Volpato was on a plane to Italy to rejoin Sassuolo, where he has made a sharp start to the Serie A season. He scored twice in the club’s first five league games before a hamstring injury struck over the weekend.
That setback arrives at the worst possible time for his international ambitions. The injury, combined with the unfolding off-field saga, means Socceroos coach Tony Popovic is unlikely to consider him for selection for this month’s matches against Brazil in Queensland.
“These young men, things happen and you can get caught for something that we have to look into,” Popovic told reporters on Tuesday. “There is a process that’s playing out at the moment about that, and we need to follow that process.”
Volpato’s situation marks a dramatic shift from the highs of earlier this year, when he emerged as a breakout figure in Australia’s World Cup campaign. Having turned his back on Italy to commit to the green and gold, he was quickly tagged as one of the most exciting talents of his generation.
Now the conversation around him is very different, and the next steps — on and off the pitch — will shape how long that label lasts.
