When winger Mykhailo Mudryk arrived at Chelsea in January 2023, it was hailed as a major coup. The Ukranian, then just 22, was so highly regarded across Europe that Chelsea paid a fee potentially rising up to £89 million and handed him an eight and a half-year contract. Moreover, Blues fans revelled in the knowledge that they had snatched Mudryk from under the noses of London rivals Arsenal. Such was Chelsea’s confidence in Mudryk’s potential that he was awarded the prestigious No.10 shirt ahead of his first full season at the club that summer.
Fast forward two and a half years: Arsenal fans are now revelling in the knowledge that they have snatched Ebere Eze from under the noses of their London rivals Tottenham, Chelsea supporters are parading the kit of their newly christened No. 10, Cole Palmer, and Mykhailo Mudryk has not kicked a ball professionally since November 2024. His career has been derailed by something more damaging than a spat with a manager, a loss of form, or even a major injury. Found with a banned substance in his system, Mudryk was charged by the FA with violating anti-doping rules and faces a ban of up to four years.
Mudryk’s case feels shocking precisely because football has long convinced itself that doping is a problem for other sports. Official statistics appear to back that up: In 2023, football was second only to athletics in the number of global tests conducted, with more than 35,000 samples collected but only 89 returning a positive finding. On paper, such figures suggest that doping in football is ‘rare’ – a line the FA has been comfortable with repeating for years.
But the numbers risk creating a false sense of security. High-profile cases like Mudryk, Paul Pogba (who has recently returned from an 18 month ban) and Andre Onana (banned for 9 months in 2021) are framed as isolated incidents, yet critics argue that the real issue lies in the inadequacies of the testing system itself. Far from proving football’s cleanliness, the data may simply highlight how predictable and limited its anti-doping measures are.
If the headline numbers look reassuring, the details tell a very different story. As a recent Times investigation revealed, the vast majority of tests in English football take place at club training grounds, where players already expect to see doping control officers. Crucially, footballers are not required to provide their whereabouts on days off or during holidays – creating obvious gaps that can be exploited, particularly when the detection window for substances like EPO or human growth hormone can be as short as 24 to 48 hours.
Funding also highlights the disparity. In a year when English football’s summer transfer spending went over £3 billion, the FA allocated just £1.55 million annually to its anti-doping programme. Add to that the limited use of the athlete’s biological passport – just 3 percent of football’s tests involved blood monitoring, compared with 34 percent in athletics – and the picture that emerges is less one of a squeaky clean sport than one operating with minimal scrutiny.
Where football’s system looks underfunded and predictable, other sports have opted for tougher standards. World Athletics’ Integrity Unit, widely regarded as the ‘gold standard’ in anti-doping, invests heavily (over 10% of its annual income) in intelligence-led testing, with the majority of out-of-competition (OOC) checks carried out unannounced at athletes’ homes or training camps. In 2024, more than two-thirds of its 5,250 out-of-competition tests were ‘pure OOCs’ – surprise visits designed to catch cheats within narrow detection windows. The contrast underlines just how far football lags behind.
That gap has not gone unnoticed. As The Times has reported, serious conversations are underway about handing control of anti-doping in football, alongside rugby and cricket, back to UK Anti-Doping (UKAD). Such a shift would mark a significant break from the current model, where the FA manages cases itself and simply contracts UKAD to deliver testing. Returning authority to UKAD would bring football in line with best practice across the sporting world – creating a more independent, intelligence-led system, with the power to introduce stricter whereabouts requirements and more rigorous monitoring.
Heightened scrutiny means higher stakes. If football comes under UKAD’s direct authority, players will face more demanding oversight. For individuals, that raises not just the risk of suspension but also serious contractual and commercial consequences: a doping charge can void playing contracts, derail transfers and collapse sponsorship deals overnight. For clubs and associations, the potential shift creates new layers of regulatory responsibility. Medical teams will need clear protocols to avoid unintentional violations and executives must ensure contracts and disciplinary protocols are watertight to avoid regulatory breaches that bring reputational damage and legal dispute.
In short, as football moves towards more robust oversight of anti-doping, the margin for error narrows. What was once dismissed as a ‘rare’ risk now becomes a live compliance issue that clubs, players, and their representatives cannot afford to ignore.
This is where arch.law sports comes in. We recognise that, with greater scrutiny from UKAD on the horizon, the risk of players and clubs inadvertently falling foul of anti-doping regulations increases exponentially.
As a regulated law firm with dedicated expertise in sports law, arch.law sports is uniquely placed to help clients navigate this new reality. Our team includes Richard Cramer, who has extensive experience working in the anti-doping field and has been involved in several anti-doping hearings with UKAD. We advise on compliance frameworks that minimise risk and draft and review contracts to ensure they are robust against anti-doping provisions. Just as importantly, we support our athletes with education and guidance to ensure they do not fall foul of increasingly stringent requirements.
The message is clear: as football moves towards more independent and intrusive regulation, the need for expert legal support has never been greater. At arch.law sports, we stand ready to protect our clients’ careers, reputations, and commercial interests in this rapidly evolving environment.
Useful Information:
- More about arch.law sports