Cristian Volpato Confirms Cocaine Use Amid Controversy

Cristian Volpato’s insistence that he was the victim of a false positive roadside drug test has been shattered, with a secondary sample confirming the presence of cocaine in his system.

The Socceroos midfielder, one of Australia’s revelations at this year’s World Cup, had repeatedly denied taking the drug after a traffic stop on Sydney’s Anzac Bridge in late July. He and those close to him maintained the initial roadside result was wrong.

It hasn’t fallen his way.

NSW Police have confirmed that a laboratory analysis of a second oral fluid sample, taken after the original roadside test, has also returned a positive result for cocaine. Volpato has been issued a traffic infringement notice and fined $722.

The 22-year-old has already paid a heavy price on the roads. He lost his international driver’s licence for six months after being clocked in a BMW at almost 50km/h over the speed limit on Anzac Bridge – the same stretch of road where he had been fined for speeding just two hours earlier – on the eve of the Italian Serie A season.

From Sydney drama to Serie A form

The incident did not keep him in Australia for long. Volpato flew back to Italy the next day to rejoin Sassuolo, where he quickly slipped back into football mode and found the net twice in the club’s first five league matches.

His 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 upcoming friendlies against Brazil in Queensland later this month, sparing coach Tony Popovic and Football Australia from an immediate call on whether to select him while the off-field saga unfolds.

For now, the national team can park the question. The controversy around him cannot.

Legal fight looms

Volpato’s lawyer, Paul McGirr, signalled the midfielder is considering an appeal against the fine and the positive finding.

“Our client has never touched cocaine and strenuously denies consuming it ever,” McGirr said.

He pointed to a voluntary urinalysis Volpato undertook at a medical facility immediately after the July incident, which he says showed no traces of cocaine, other drugs or alcohol.

An appeal would drill into the way the roadside sample was taken and whether contamination played any role.

“We want to look at how it was done,” McGirr said.

Inside Volpato’s account

In the days after the original positive result, Volpato told family and friends he believed his drink had been spiked while he was out celebrating a friend’s birthday in Sydney’s CBD on July 21.

Sassuolo later released a statement confirming the midfielder had undergone further urine and blood tests on his return to Italy. Those tests, the club said, came back negative. Cocaine, though, can clear from blood and urine within a few days, and it is not known exactly when those club tests were carried out.

Governing body response

Football Australia has acknowledged being informed of the reported secondary oral test result.

“We are currently seeking independent verification,” the organisation said in a statement.

Popovic, speaking on Tuesday before the news of the second positive sample broke, kept his comments tight and leaned on process when asked whether 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.”

The process will now unfold under a harsher spotlight. A World Cup breakout star, a repeat speeding offence, a confirmed cocaine finding, and a looming legal challenge – Volpato’s next move may say as much about his future as any goal he scores in Serie A.