Mykhailo Mudryk’s doping test is ‘a dagger to the heart of Ukrainian football’ – Blogging Sole

Just six months after Russia invaded Ukraine, on a balmy September evening in eastern Germany, I ran into Mykhailo Mudryk shortly after midnight.

It was September 2022 and Mudryk was then an emerging talent for Ukrainian champions Shakhtar Donetsk. He scored and was the team’s main attacking threat in a shock 4–1 victory for Shakhtar in the opening match of their Champions League campaign against the German team RB Leipzig.

For Mudryk and his teammates, the Champions League offered a respite from the horrors of home. When Russian bombs landed in Ukraine in February 2022, many Shakhtar foreign players found emergency shelter in a windowless room in a kyiv hotel, before interventions from several national embassies, football federations and of UEFA, the governing body of European football, draw up an evacuation plan.

Shakhtar had more than a dozen Brazilian players in their ranks at that time, but many left for safer climes when the Ukrainian season ended and did not return. Football has resumed in Ukraine for the 2022-23 season and Shakhtar, who were first uprooted from their home in Donetsk in 2014 following Russian-backed incursions, were playing home games in the city relatively safer Lviv, in western Ukraine – although matches have been interrupted. still frequently interrupted by air raid sirens.

Shakhtar’s team was a shell of its former self, comprising just one player bought for over £2 million ($2.51 million at today’s prices). This team was largely composed of young and inexperienced men. When they played against Real Madrid the following month, their starting squad included 10 Ukrainian players, eight of whom had been produced through the club’s youth system and seven who were aged 23 or younger.

Mudryk, just 21, suddenly became the emblem of a team whose indomitable spirit and improbable resilience seemed to sum up the Ukrainian struggle.

That evening in Germany, Athletics was brought in with the Ukrainian side to produce a documentary about their attempts to continue playing in the midst of war. I spoke briefly to Mudryk and his midfield teammate and best friend Georgiy Sudakov as they left their hotel in Leipzig in the early hours of the morning. Their heads were spinning after an improbable victory, adrenaline coursing through their veins. But, they explained, they also wanted to walk freely at night, in a place where there were no shelters, no screams, no air raid sirens to quickly force them underground, to remember a normal life. For half an hour they did this, before returning to their rooms.

At that point, Mudryk’s star was just beginning to shine. He was raw, in the extreme, and without the untimely exodus of Brazilian players, it is unlikely that he would have established himself so quickly.

This was a player who only debuted for his national team in June 2022, but in January 2023, after a handful of impressive performances in the Champions League, notably against Real Madrid, Mudryk became the most expensive Ukrainian footballer in history. He signed for Premier League side Chelseawho has committed an initial £62million, plus £26.5million in potential further payments depending on his and Chelsea’s success.

This week’s news that Mudryk tested positive for the banned substance meldonium is a dagger to the heart of Ukrainian football and leaves the player in a fight to save his career. The extent of the damage will depend on the result of Mudryk’s “B” sample, which has not yet been revealed, as the unfavorable result concerns his “A” sample, but he has been provisionally suspended by the English Football Association .

Chelsea’s commitment to acquiring the player was significant, tying him to a seven-and-a-half year contract, with the option of a further year. Even amid the invasion, Shakhtar managed to stir up a bidding war, such was the interest. He had already been pursued by the German army Bayer Leverkusenas well as Newcastle United, Brentford And Everton in the Premier League, but it came down to a fight between Arsenal and Chelsea.

At the time, Shakhtar director of football Dario Srna said Athletics: “If someone wants to buy Mudryk, they have to pay a huge, huge, huge amount. Otherwise the president of the club (Rinat Akhmetov) will not sell him. All clubs must respect the president, respect Shakhtar and in the end they must respect Mykhaylo Mudryk, who is one of the best players I have seen. The price is so high.

Srna said he considered Mudryk to be only behind Kylian Mbappé And Vinicius Junior in its advanced position and insisted that a lot of money would be needed, taking into account Manchester United sign Anthony from Ajax in an £86m deal and Jadon Sancho Since Borussia Dortmund £73 million, while Manchester City bought Jack Grealish for £100 million.

Shakhtar, aware of the power of sport in shaping the war narrative, also announced once the transfer was finalized that its own owner, Rinat Akhmetov, would donate $25 million to the war effort, to supporting in particular the defense of Mariupol and the families of those who lost loved ones. The agreement with Chelsea also included a clause stating that Shakhtar would play a future friendly against Chelsea in Donetsk, when and if that region of Ukraine is no longer occupied by Russian forces.

“It’s written in the contract,” said Sergei Palkin, Shakhtar’s general director. Athletics in January 2023. “But in reality, we didn’t even need to read it in the contract because Behdad Eghbali (the co-owner of Chelsea) spoke with our president. Behdad supports Ukraine a lot because it is American and it is an English club, so it is a positive triangle. When you say England and in Ukraine, it is important for our support for the war.

“It was Behdad who proposed (the friendly), because he said he wanted to help Ukraine, help Ukrainian refugees and support the Ukrainian people. This match (in Donetsk) would be like a miracle (having not played in their hometown since 2014). We would have this game every weekend if we could.

When Mudryk was unveiled at Stamford Bridge, he did so wrapped in a Ukrainian flag. The player was born and raised in the town of Krasnohrad, near Kharkiv, one of the hardest-hit regions in the country. “Since the start of the full-scale war, my city has been bombarded with missiles day and night,” Mudryk said, speaking forcefully. video of 13 Ukrainian players speaking about the impact of the war on their hometowns, published by the Football Federation of Ukraine before the match European Championship in the summer of 2024.

He is a more reserved character than his Ukrainian compatriot Alexander Zinchenkowho has been at the forefront of media initiatives to promote solidarity with Ukraine. He appears to be a deeply religious character, a follower of the Orthodox Christian faith, who carries religious icons with him to the games. On his chest he has a tattoo that says: “Dear God, if today I lose hope, please remind me that your plans are better than my dreams.”

For his national team, the talking was more often done on the pitch, notably when he scored the winning goal in a victory against Iceland to take his country to Euro 2024. Ukraine exited that tournament in the group stage and Mudryk did not score, although his country only went out on goal difference, the four teams in Group E being tied with four points after three matches.

For club and country, he has yet to fulfill his potential. He has scored just five goals and registered four assists in 53 Premier League appearances for Chelsea. This week’s sample reveal has cast doubt on her ability to play, with meldonium a drug that previously prevented tennis star Maria Sharapova from competing.

The unwanted test was reported during a routine urine test, according to a statement from Chelsea. The club added that Mudryk “categorically confirmed that he has never knowingly used any prohibited substances.”

Writing on Instagram, Mudryk said the outcome “came as a complete shock as I have never knowingly used any banned substances or broken any rules”.

He added: “I am working closely with my team to investigate how this could have happened.

“I know I did nothing wrong and I hope I will be back on the field soon. I cannot say more at the moment due to the confidentiality of the process, but I will as soon as possible.

The English Football Association (FA) anti-doping regulations state that any infringement will be treated as a breach of strict liability. For example, a player will be found guilty of an offense if a prohibited substance is found in their body. There is no need to demonstrate intent. A player’s alleged lack of intent or knowledge does not constitute a valid defense to a charge.

A violation of the FA’s anti-doping rules carries a maximum penalty of suspension of four years, although mitigating factors could reduce this sentence from two years to just one month. Sample B will be key.

With Mudryk’s career hanging in the balance, the Ukrainian football establishment appears to be rallying behind him. Several sources in Ukraine, who remain anonymous because they were not authorized to speak, told Athletics that the player suspects he may have been sabotaged while away with his country’s national team this season – a claim we have seen no evidence to support – but which is taken seriously in his own country.

On Instagram, Shakhtar midfielder Sudakov posted a message of support, urging his friend to “stay strong”.

Shakhtar CEO Palkin, meanwhile, wrote that Mudryk is a “top professional athlete,” adding that he had every confidence that the player “did not consume any banned substances.”

Palkin said: “I am confident he will prove his innocence. » Time will tell if their faith is justified.

(Top photo: Etsuo Hara/Getty Images; design: Dan Goldfarb)