Cristian Volpato's Drug Test Confirms Cocaine, Raises Questions for Socceroos

Cristian Volpato’s insistence that a roadside drug test had thrown up a false positive has been shattered, with a secondary sample of the Socceroos midfielder’s oral fluid also returning a positive result for cocaine.

The 22-year-old, one of Australia’s breakout performers at this year’s World Cup, had repeatedly denied ever taking the drug after he was stopped by police for speeding on Sydney’s Anzac Bridge in late July.

NSW Police confirmed in a statement that the follow-up analysis of his oral sample last week again detected cocaine. Volpato has been issued a traffic infringement notice and fined $722.

High-speed offence on eve of Serie A season

The drug finding comes on top of a serious speeding offence that has already cost him his licence.

Volpato has 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 – at virtually the same spot where he had been fined for speeding just two hours earlier.

It all unfolded on the eve of the Italian Serie A season.

The next day, Volpato flew back to Italy and rejoined Sassuolo, where he has tried to let his football speak instead. He has scored twice in the club’s first five league matches, attempting to re-centre his story on the pitch while the off-field saga rumbled on in Australia.

Injury spares Popovic an immediate call

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.

His absence removes an immediate flashpoint for Socceroos coach Tony Popovic and Football Australia, who now avoid a high-stakes selection decision while the legal and disciplinary picture remains unclear.

Football Australia said it had been informed of the reported secondary oral test result and is seeking independent verification.

Speaking on Tuesday, before news of the second positive sample emerged, Popovic declined to weigh in on 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.”

Legal fight looms as player maintains innocence

Volpato’s camp is not backing down.

His lawyer, Paul McGirr, said the midfielder is considering appealing the fine and the result of the oral fluid testing.

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

He revealed that, immediately after the roadside incident, Volpato went to a medical facility and undertook a voluntary urinalysis, which came back clear.

“Immediately after the incident, he attended a medical facility and partook in a voluntary urinalysis that proved he had no traces of cocaine or any other drug or alcohol in his system,” McGirr said.

Any appeal is expected to probe what McGirr described as potential contamination issues and the procedures used to collect the roadside oral sample.

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

Conflicting tests and unanswered questions

Volpato initially told family and friends he believed his drink had been spiked while celebrating a friend’s birthday in Sydney’s CBD on July 21, days before the roadside stop.

After the first positive oral test became public, Sassuolo moved to protect their player’s reputation, announcing that Volpato had undergone further urine and blood tests on his return to the club. The Italian side said those tests were negative.

Cocaine, though, can clear from blood and urine within a few days, leaving oral fluid and hair testing as more sensitive markers in certain time frames. It is not known precisely when Sassuolo conducted their internal testing on Volpato.

The conflicting results now sit at the heart of a looming legal and reputational battle: two positive oral samples against clean urine and blood tests, and a player who insists he has never knowingly taken the drug.

For Football Australia and Popovic, the clock is ticking. At some point, beyond medical reports and legal arguments, a call will have to be made on whether one of the country’s brightest young talents remains part of the national team’s future.