An idle Mudryk has become the devil’s workshop.
Suspended Chelsea star Mykhaylo Mudryk can not stay away from the headlines for the wrong reasons, as he recently earned himself another ban following historical insult during a Counter-Strike 2 match.
The Ukrainian, who is currently serving a long-term football ban after failing a doping test in 2024, has been involved in a couple of controversies, and it appears he has no plans of staying off it while he is away.
An idle Mudryk has become the devil’s workshop
While sidelined from playing football, Mudryk has frequently turned to gaming to pass the time. However, his competitive streak took a dark turn in early February 2026, when reports emerged that the 25-year-old was engaged in a heated dispute with Polish players during a match.
According to leaked screenshots and platform administrators, Mudryk used highly insensitive language, making references to the Volhynia massacres, a tragic historical event involving the ethnic cleansing of Poles by Ukrainian forces during World War II.
FACEIT, which maintains strict anti-toxicity policies, handed the footballer a one-month ban for breaching communication rules, while the platform also noted that this was a repeat offense level of punishment, suggesting a pattern of behavior that has previously slipped under the radar.
The irony was not lost on the gaming community; while Mudryk’s opponents reportedly taunted him with comments like “Bro, do more drugs,” in reference to his football suspension, the winger’s response has been widely condemned as a massive overstep into sensitive geopolitical territory.
Nevertheless, for Mudryk, this latest incident is merely another layer in a nightmare period, which syarted in December 2024, when he was provisionally suspended by the Football Association after testing positive for meldonium, a prohibited metabolic modulator known to enhance athlete endurance.
Despite Mudryk’s claims that he never knowingly used a banned substance and that the sample was contaminated, the FA officially charged him in June 2025.
The fallout has been devastating for his professional standing as he battled with loss of identity due to his inability to join his teammates, and in 2025, Chelsea stripped Mudryk of his iconic No. 10 shirt, handing it to Cole Palmer.
Mudryk has also been faced with legal limbo, which could lead to a potential four-year ban from football, effectively end his peak years as a professional athlete.
Though still under a long-term contract at Stamford Bridge, he has not featured for the Blues since a Conference League tie against Heidenheim in November 2024, and the club appeared to have moved on by giving his shirt number to another player.
A pattern of controversy for Mykhaylo Mudryk
Mudryk’s controversy extends beyond the pitch and the PC. Since his suspension began, he has also faced a six-month driving ban in the UK for repeated speeding offenses in his customized BMW M8.
For a player who arrived at Chelsea for a staggering £89 million from Shakhtar Donesk in the winter of 2023, the lack of discipline off the pitch has become as notable as his lack of performances worthy of a player of his price tag.
As the former Shakhtar Donesk teenager, once ranked amongst the best youngsters in the world, navigate this difficult period, it is imperative that his entourage help him retain focus, because eventually the wait will be over, but the body may have given up if this continues.
Kehinde-Hassan Afolabi
