Chelsea have released a statement after Mykhailo Mudryk broke his silence claiming he has 'not done anything wrong' having been provisionally suspended from football on the finding of a positive drugs test by the Football Association.
The 23-year-old - who joined in a £88m deal last in January 2023 - has missed the club's last five matches and has not featured since a Europa Conference League match on November 28. Manager Enzo Maresca has put the Ukrainian's absence down to illness.
However, it is understood that Mudryk has been unavailable for selection due to a suspected adverse analytical finding.
The Ukrainian has now confirmed that he has been banned by the FA and stated he is not 'knowingly used any banned substance' as Chelsea also released their own statement addressing the situation.
Posting on his Instagram account, Mudryk announced: 'I can confirm that I have been notified that a sample I provided to The FA contained a banned substance.
'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.'
Meanwhile, Chelsea's own statement confirming the shocking news carried less weight as the title-challenging Blues revealed they are now working to discover the reason behind the positive test.
Publishing a short summary of Mudryk's suspension, Chelsea stated: '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.'
Mail Sport has been in contact with a specialist sports law firm acting for Mudryk since Friday and has been repeatedly told that the player has not been charged with a doping offence. They have again been contacted for comment.
Mudryk has started only one Premier League match this season, although he has been a regular in the Conference League. During his last appearance, at Germans Heidenheim, he scored in a 2-0 victory.
Since then, he was an unused substitute against Aston Villa, before being left out of the matchday squad for games against Southampton, Tottenham, Brentford and last week's Conference League trip to Kazakhstan to face Astana.
Mudryk has not been seen training at Cobham in the interim and will now undergo a process to determine any wrongdoing following the positive drugs test.
If found to have committed an offence, then punishments for a positive drugs test could lead to a long-term ban as was the case with Paul Pogba when the former Man United star was initially banned from football four-years before an appeal led to it being reduced to 18 months.
Mudryk penned an eight-year deal at Chelsea when he joined from Shakhtar Donetsk but has only started 26 Premier League appearances during his time at the club and has struggled to deliver on the potential he arrived with.
