Cristian Volpato Faces Legal Battle After Second Positive Cocaine Test

Cristian Volpato’s insistence that he was the victim of a faulty roadside drug test has been rocked by the confirmation of a second positive result for cocaine, piling pressure on one of the Socceroos’ brightest new stars and igniting a looming legal battle.

The 22-year-old midfielder, who lit up Australia’s World Cup campaign earlier this year, had repeatedly denied ever taking cocaine after a roadside swab returned a positive reading when he was pulled over for speeding on Anzac Bridge in late July.

That stance now sits under an even harsher spotlight.

NSW Police have confirmed that a secondary laboratory analysis of Volpato’s oral fluid, taken last week, has again tested positive for cocaine. Police issued him a traffic infringement notice and a $722 fine.

Speeding, then speeding again

The drug result comes on top of a separate sanction that has already hit the young star hard.

Volpato has lost his international driver’s licence for six months after being clocked driving a BMW at almost 50km/h over the speed limit on Anzac Bridge – at the same spot where he had been fined for speeding just two hours earlier. The incident unfolded on the eve of the Italian Serie A season, turning what should have been a clean runway into a storm front.

The day after the roadside stop, Volpato flew back to Italy and rejoined Sassuolo. On the pitch, he responded in the only way footballers know: he trained, he played, he scored. Two goals in his first five matches hinted at a player trying to outrun the controversy.

Then his body intervened.

Hamstring blow eases Popovic’s selection dilemma

Volpato limped off in the 38th minute of Sassuolo’s 2-2 draw with Bologna at the weekend, clutching his hamstring. The injury is expected to rule him out of Australia’s friendlies against Brazil in Queensland later this month.

For national team coach Tony Popovic and Football Australia, the timing changes everything. Any immediate decision over whether to select Volpato in the wake of the drug saga is effectively postponed. The debate shifts from “Should he be picked?” to “When will he even be available?”

Popovic, speaking on Tuesday before news of the second positive sample became public, kept his distance from the specifics.

“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 challenge on the table

Volpato’s camp is not backing down.

His lawyer, Paul McGirr, said the midfielder is considering appealing the fine and will challenge the reliability of the testing process.

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

He revealed that immediately after the July incident, Volpato went to a medical facility and submitted to a voluntary urinalysis, which he says showed no traces of cocaine, other drugs or alcohol.

Any appeal is expected to zero in on what McGirr describes as potential contamination issues and the methods used to collect the roadside oral sample.

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

Inside Volpato’s defence

Privately, 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, days before the roadside stop.

Sassuolo later issued a statement saying that upon his return to Italy, the club arranged further urine and blood tests for the midfielder. Those tests, the club said, came back negative. The timing of those samples has not been disclosed, and that timing matters: cocaine can clear the bloodstream and become undetectable in urine and blood within a few days, even while still being picked up in oral fluid.

The conflicting test results now sit at the heart of both the public debate and any legal challenge.

Football Australia treads carefully

Football Australia has acknowledged it is aware of the reported secondary oral test result and is moving cautiously.

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

The organisation must balance integrity, player welfare and due process, all while one of its most marketable young talents sits under an unwanted spotlight.

For now, the hamstring injury keeps Volpato out of the Brazil friendlies and buys time for the legal and administrative wheels to turn. But those wheels are moving, and the next phase – in courtrooms, at Football Australia headquarters, and inside a dressing room in Italy – will shape not just a reputation, but the trajectory of a career that only months ago seemed destined to soar.