THE drug Chelsea’s Mykhailo Mudryk is alleged to have taken is the same one that saw Maria Sharapova slapped with a lengthy ban from tennis.
Mudryk, 23, has been provisionally suspended from football after failing a drugs test.
The winger returned a positive result for an A-sample in late October and now awaits the answer from a decisive B-sample.
Reports in his homeland of Ukraine say meldonium has been found in Mudryk‘s system.
The performance-enhancing drug makes the body “use oxygen sparingly and restore energy quickly”.
It has been described as a “metabolic modulator” that “modifies how some hormones accelerate or slow down to different enzymatic reactions in the body”.
Meldonium was banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency in 2016.
Tennis legend Sharapova was initially banned for two years after testing positive for it soon after it was added to the prohibited list.
An an appeal saw her suspension reduced to 15 months.
Sharapova revealed she had been taking meldonium for ten years due to health issues and did not realise it had become a banned substance.
In another high-profile case, Russian boxer Alexander Povetkin also tested positive in 2016 and it led to his bout against Deontay Wilder being called off.
He was later cleared following a second test.
In recent years, four-year bans for it have been dished out to wrestler Tamerlan Tagziev, Olympic curling bronze medallist Alexander Krushelnitskiy, canoeing star Oleksandr Senkevych and gaelic football ace Ray Walker.
Kazakh footballer Aybol Abiken was banned for three years in 2022 after he took meldonium.
Mudryk insists he is innocent, writing on Instagram: “This has come as a complete shock as I have NEVER knowingly used any banned substances or broken any rules.
“I 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.”
How long are drugs bans in football?
By SunSport’s Joshua Jones
MYKHAILO MUDRYK could be banned for up to four years after failing a drugs test
But what are the rules regarding drugs in football?
There is a big difference between recreational drugs and performance-enhancing substances.
Recreational drugs – such as cannabis, cocaine, heroin, LSD and MDMA – carry a six-month suspension.
However, this ban can increase to up to two years if a drug is detected when a player is tested after a match.
But performance-enhancing drugs carry a far more severe punishment.
And crucially the alleged drug Mudryk tested positive for, meldonium, falls under that category.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code’s standard ban is four years.
That is how long Paul Pogba was suspended for following his failed drugs test – although it was later reduced on appeal to 18 months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The FA follows the UK Anti-Doping code under the WADA authority so will follow their lead and procedures.
Should Mudryk’s follow-up secondary ‘B’ sample also test positive, he is likely to be hit with at least an 18-month ban but it could be as high as four years.
The only person in football currently banned on the UKAD sanctions list for anti-doping rule violations is Craig Campbell.
The former Scottish striker was banned for four years in December 2022 after being convicted of dealing cocaine.
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