Cristian Volpato’s Cocaine Test Saga Deepens
Cristian Volpato’s World Cup rise now sits alongside a very different headline: a second positive test for cocaine.
The Socceroos midfielder, who had insisted for weeks that a roadside drug test had thrown up a false reading, has had that stance rocked by confirmation that a secondary oral-fluid sample has also tested positive for cocaine.
NSW Police confirmed in a statement that Volpato has been issued a traffic infringement notice and fined $722.
High-speed stop, high-stakes fallout
The 22-year-old was pulled over in late July on Anzac Bridge, stopped initially for speeding. He was clocked driving a BMW at almost 50km/h over the limit — at the same spot where he had already been fined for speeding just two hours earlier, on the eve of the Italian Serie A season.
He has since lost his international driver’s licence for six months.
At the time, the roadside test indicated the presence of cocaine. Volpato denied taking the drug and, privately, he told family and friends he believed his drink had been spiked while celebrating a friend’s birthday in the Sydney CBD on July 21.
The second oral-fluid sample, taken for more detailed analysis last week, has now come back positive as well.
Legal fight brewing
Volpato’s lawyer, Paul McGirr, says the player is weighing up an appeal.
“Our client has never touched cocaine and strenuously denies consuming it ever,” McGirr said.
He said that immediately after the incident, Volpato went to a medical facility and undertook a voluntary urinalysis, which he says showed no trace of cocaine, other drugs or alcohol. McGirr flagged that any appeal would probe alleged contamination issues and the way the roadside sample was collected.
“We want to look at how it was done,” he said.
Cocaine can move through the body quickly and often becomes undetectable in urine and blood tests within a few days. Sassuolo, Volpato’s club, said in a statement after the initial positive that he had undergone further urine and blood tests on his return to Italy and that those results were negative. The club did not specify when those tests were carried out.
Club form and fresh injury
Volpato flew back to Italy the day after the Anzac Bridge incident and returned straight to work with Sassuolo. On the pitch, he has started the season brightly, scoring twice in the club’s first five Serie A matches.
That momentum stalled at the weekend. Volpato limped off in the 38th minute of Sassuolo’s 2-2 draw with Bologna with a hamstring injury. The setback is expected to rule him out of Australia’s friendlies against Brazil in Queensland later this month.
For Socceroos coach Tony Popovic and Football Australia, the timing changes everything. Any immediate call on whether to select Volpato is effectively taken out of their hands.
Football Australia said it had been informed of the reported secondary oral test result.
“We are currently seeking independent verification,” it said in a statement.
National-team questions parked, not erased
Speaking on Tuesday, before news of the second positive sample emerged, Popovic chose his words carefully when asked if Volpato had breached team standards.
“These young men, things happen and you can get caught for something that we have to look into,” he said. “There is a process that’s playing out at the moment about that, and we need to follow that process.”
For now, that process will unfold without the added layer of national-team selection. The hamstring injury spares Popovic an immediate, politically charged decision, but it does not remove the broader issue.
One of Australia’s breakout stars from this year’s World Cup now faces a long, uncomfortable examination off the field — by police, by the courts if he appeals, and by the football public wondering what this means for his future in green and gold.
