Soccer-Mudryk's long wait ends with emotional Chelsea comeback

Ukrainian winger Mykhailo Mudryk made an emotional return to Chelsea's team after his anti-doping ban was reduced, coming off the bench in a pre-season match against Juventus.

Ukraine winger Mykhailo Mudryk re-launched his career with an emotional ​return to the Chelsea team on Wednesday, ​days after learning that his anti-doping ‌ban had ​been reduced. The 25-year-old came off the bench in Chelsea's pre-season Tour clash with Juventus in Hong Kong, his first action since being told of ‌an adverse analytical finding in December 2024.

"I'm really pleased for him," Chelsea manager Xavi Alonso said after the 1-0 defeat. "It was emotional for everyone from the club to see him back. "When I told him before the game ‌he could play 10 or 15 minutes, he was thrilled for sure. It was after such ‌a long period (that he couldn't play with the team), so it was a great feeling for him and for everyone else."

Mudryk joined Chelsea from Shakhtar Donetsk in 2023 for an initial fee of 62 million pounds ($78.72 million) but his career looked in peril ⁠when ​hit with a four-year ban ⁠by the English Football Association for testing positive for the banned substance meldonium. He always insisted he had never knowingly or intentionally ⁠taken a banned substance and was cleared to resume playing on Friday after the FA concluded disciplinary proceedings in agreement ​with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

Before Wednesday's game, Alonso said 'no decision' had been made about Mudryk's future ⁠at Chelsea. Following the match he said it had been important to get Mudryk back on the pitch. "It was more than a ⁠football ​decision. It was a human decision and emotional decision to give him this boost, to feel the great support that he got and the great reception when he came on the pitch," the ⁠Spaniard said.

After last week's hearing the FA noted that Mudryk would not have returned an adverse finding under ⁠WADA's current technical document, ⁠due to changes made after he had tested positive. "If Mr Mudryk's sample was collected today, the concentration of meldonium in the sample would not have been reported ‌and no ‌ADRVs would have resulted," the FA said.