Chelsea may sue Ukraine for 70 million euros over Mudryk’s doping: lawyer’s opinion

16 January 12:17

If the British authorities do establish the fact of doping by Ukrainian Chelsea footballer Mykhailo Mudryk, the London club may file a lawsuit against the Ukrainian Football Association (UAF). This was stated by journalist Ihor Burbas, according to Komersant ukrainskyi.

The media is now spreading a version that Mudryk could have ingested meldonium during his stay in the camp of the Ukrainian national team. There he was allegedly injected with the drug actovegin, which contains a banned substance.

Now Mudryk and the London club are waiting for the results of the “B” test. If they find doping, Mudryk will be disqualified for a certain period of time.

According to the journalist, Chelsea is considering filing a lawsuit against the Ukrainian Football Association, because it is there that Mudryk allegedly received doping. They even mention the probable amount of the claim, which is 70 million euros – the same amount Chelsea paid Shakhtar Donetsk for Mudryk (plus 30 million euros in bonuses).

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Lawyer’s comment

At the same time, from a legal point of view, Chelsea’s claim against the UAF does not look very promising, lawyers say. First of all, it is difficult to find even the defendants in the Ukrainian bureaucratic process. According to lawyer Ilya Skoropashkin, the Ministry of Youth and Sports is likely to be the defendant, not the UAF. However, the most important thing is that Mudryk himself will be the primary defendant.

“…the athlete is directly responsible for the ingestion of banned substances into his body. He wasn’t forced to get that injection, was he? The UAF can be involved in such a dispute only as a third party,”

– the lawyer said in an interview with dynamo.kiev.ua.

If the lawsuit does take place, then, according to the lawyer, only a Ukrainian court can consider it. For example, the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv. Obviously, in this case, Chelsea’s prospects for obtaining the desired decision are significantly reduced.

The lawyer generally considers such a hypothetical lawsuit to be completely unpromising, based on current sports legislation and practice.

“Any lawsuits in this regard are generally unlikely and unpromising. Activities in professional sports involve many risks: injuries, illnesses, disqualifications, doping, etc. For example, who can be blamed if a player gets injured or falls ill while being a member of the national team?”

– ilya Skoropashkin summarized.

Mykhailo Mudryk and doping

Mykhailo Mudryk is a Ukrainian footballer born on January 5, 2001 in Krasnohrad, Kharkiv region. He is a graduate of Metalist Kharkiv, where he began his football career. Later he joined the academy of Shakhtar Donetsk. His first appearance for Shakhtar’s first team took place on October 31, 2018, in the 1/8 finals of the Ukrainian Cup against Olimpik.

To gain playing practice, Mudryk also played on loan at Arsenal Kyiv and Desna. The breakthrough in his career took place in the 2022/23 season, when Mudryk became a key player for Shakhtar and attracted the attention of European clubs due to his performances in the Champions League. In January 2023, he signed a contract with Chelsea London, and the transfer amounted to about €70 million, including €30 million in bonuses, a record for Ukrainian football.

Adapting to the English Premier League proved difficult, as Mudryk mostly disappointed fans and failed to meet expectations. In total, during his time at Chelsea, Mudryk played in 43 matches, scoring 6 goals and providing 9 assists. He mostly came on as a substitute, rarely getting into the main lineup.

Mudryk’s positive drug test became known the day before. It is reported that the banned substance meldonium was detected in his body at the end of October, and now the opening of the “B” sample is expected. The footballer faces up to 4 years of suspension for doping.

The player claims that he has never knowingly taken doping. According to one version, Mudryk may have been doped by Russian blogger Violetta Gracheva, with whom he is allegedly secretly dating. Another version says that Mudryk received meldonium in the national team camp.

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Остафійчук Ярослав
Editor