Mykhailo Mudryk Cleared to Return to Football

Mykhailo Mudryk has been cleared to pull his boots back on. The Chelsea winger can return to competitive football immediately after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) partially upheld his appeal against a four-year doping ban.

The 25-year-old Ukraine international has been out of action since November 2024. He was provisionally suspended by the Football Association the following month after an “adverse finding” for meldonium, a substance on the banned list.

The FA then handed him the maximum punishment: a four-year ban. Mudryk challenged that decision at CAS. The case has now swung decisively in his favour.

CAS confirmed that Mudryk accepted he had broken anti-doping rules, but the court agreed that the time he has already spent out of the game is sufficient. His suspension has effectively been reduced to the period served, and he is eligible to play “with immediate effect”.

For Chelsea and Ukraine, a sidelined talent is suddenly back in the frame.