Shakhtar Donetsk CEO Sergiy Palkin claims that Mykhailo Mudryk has passed a lie detector test in a bid to prove his innocence in his ongoing doping case.
The Chelsea winger hasn’t faced the public since being handed a provisional ban by the FA in December for allegedly failing a drugs test while away on international duty with Ukraine.
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There has been complete radio silence on the matter since the initial announcement of his ban, and the results of a B-sample still have not materialised.
Last week, there was some minor news on Mudryk’s situation at Chelsea when an FA report revealed that the 24-year-old had received a ‘contract update’ at some point between February 2024 and February 2025, although what exactly was amended has not been disclosed.
According to Ben Jacobs, Mudryk’s ban remains only provisional for the time being. The winger is still fighting to clear his name and prove his innocence.
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Mudryk ‘passes polygraph’
Speaking to Jacobs, Shakhtar Donetsk CEO Sergiy Palkin has provided an update on his former player, claiming that Mudryk has successfully passed a polygraph in a bid to give credibility to his defence.
“I have spoken to Mudryk many times since this doping issue arose,” Palkin said. “He doesn’t understand how it could have happened. He has no clue. No idea at all.
“So his lawyers organised for him to take a lie detector test, which he passed. It will form part of the evidence showing he didn’t intentionally do anything wrong.”
Unfortunately for Mudryk, this is unlikely to help his case as intent is not a credible defence in doping cases. Only proof of sabotage or a flaw in testing protocol can aid the player in avoiding a lengthy ban.
“Mudryk has been clear, it’s not his fault that he tested positive,” Palkin added. “We now need to find out how this has happened, and who did this. His lawyers are trying to find out. There are still no results from the B-sample, so that remains open. Nobody knows what’s happened.”
Palkin also highlighted that Mudryk’s future is vitally important for Shakhtar as they could miss out on as much as €30m in bonuses should he never play for Chelsea again. “Shakhtar also has a vested interest,” he admitted.
“There are bonuses from his move to Chelsea linked to his performances. If he’s not playing, it causes problems for us because we could potentially lose €30m. So Shakhtar, Chelsea and Mudryk, we are in one boat. We all support Mudryk, and hope he is allowed to continue playing football soon.”
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