Chelsea forward Mykhailo Mudryk has confirmed that he has failed a drugs test but has protested his innocence.

The Ukraine international has been used sparingly for the Blues this season, making just one Premier League start throughout the campaign. A regular in the Europa Conference League side, Mudryk has directly contributed to eight goals in 15 appearances across all competitions.

Mudryk has missed Chelsea’s last four fixtures through illness and is at risk of sitting out an even longer period of time.

In news first broken by Ukrainian outlet Tribuna and reported by the Telegraph, Mudryk has been accused of testing positive for mildronate, a drug banned by the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) since 2016.

“I can confirm that I have been notified that a sample I provided to The FA contained a banned substance,” Mudryk wrote on social media. “This has come as a complete shock as I have never knowingly used any banned substances or broken any rules, and am working closely with my team to investigate how this could have happened.

“I know that I have not done anything wrong and remain hopeful that I will be back on the pitch soon. I cannot say any more now due to the confidentiality of the process, but I will as soon as I can.”

The test was reportedly taken at the end of October and will be subject to a test of his ‘B’ sample.

Chelsea released a club statement on Tuesday morning confirming the news. “Chelsea Football Club can confirm the Football Association recently contacted our player Mykhailo Mudryk concerning an adverse finding in a routine urine test.

“Both the Club and Mykhailo fully support The FA’s testing programme and all our players, including Mykhailo, are regularly tested. Mykhailo has confirmed categorically that he has never knowingly used any banned substances. Both Mykhailo and the Club will now work with the relevant authorities to establish what has caused the adverse finding.

“The Club will not be commenting any further.”

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