Cristian Volpato's Cocaine Test Controversy

Cristian Volpato’s turbulent winter in Sydney has taken another sharp turn, with a second sample confirming the presence of cocaine after a roadside drug test on Anzac Bridge in July.

The 22-year-old Socceroo, hailed earlier this year as one of Australian football’s brightest new stars, now finds himself at the centre of a police matter, a looming appeal, and a national team headache.

Second test confirms cocaine

The Sydney Morning Herald first revealed on Wednesday that Volpato’s secondary oral fluid sample had also tested positive for cocaine, backing up the result of a roadside drug test carried out on the night of July 21.

Contacted by nine.com.au, NSW Police confirmed the sequence of events.

“He was subjected to a roadside drug test which allegedly returned a positive result for cocaine,” a police statement said.

“A secondary sample of oral fluid was taken for further analysis.

“Following inquiries, on Tuesday 1 September 2026, a 22-year-old man was issued a Traffic Infringement Notice for drive motor vehicle with illicit drug present in oral fluid etc with a $722 fine.”

The infringement carries a financial penalty and sits alongside an already significant driving sanction from the same night.

Volpato denies ever taking cocaine

Volpato, through his lawyer, has rejected any suggestion he knowingly consumed the drug.

“Our client has never touched cocaine and strenuously denies consuming it ever,” lawyer Paul McGirr told the Herald.

McGirr said Volpato would consider appealing the fine. The Herald reports the midfielder has told people close to him he believes his drink may have been spiked that night.

No criminal charge has been laid; the matter currently sits as a traffic infringement based on the drug test result.

Speeding, suspension and a flight to Italy

The drug result is only part of a chaotic night for the young attacker.

Volpato has already had his international driver’s licence suspended for six months after he was caught driving almost 50km/h over the speed limit on Anzac Bridge on July 21.

He was stopped twice in the same spot on the same night while driving a BMW across the bridge. He told authorities he had been attending a party in Sydney’s CBD.

Within 24 hours of being charged, Volpato was on a plane back to Italy to rejoin Serie A side Sassuolo, where he had started the season in promising form.

He scored two goals in the club’s first five league games, underlining why he is viewed as a long-term pillar of the Socceroos’ attack. That momentum stalled over the weekend when he suffered a hamstring injury.

Popovic and Socceroos left waiting

The injury has immediate consequences for Australia.

With Brazil coming to Queensland later this month for a high-profile series of matches, Socceroos coach Tony Popovic is now unlikely to consider Volpato for selection, with both his fitness and his off-field situation under scrutiny.

“These young men, things happen and you can get caught for something that we have to look into,” Popovic told reporters on Tuesday.

“There is a process that’s playing out at the moment about that, and we need to follow that process.”

For Popovic, the equation is clear: a prized young playmaker, in form in one of Europe’s top leagues, now sidelined by a hamstring and shadowed by a drug infringement.

From World Cup breakout to off-field storm

Volpato’s rapid rise has made this episode all the more jarring.

Earlier this year he was a breakout figure in Australia’s World Cup campaign, the Roma academy product having turned his back on Italy to pledge his allegiance to the Socceroos. That decision was celebrated as a major win for Australian football, confirmation that one of the country’s most gifted young talents was committing to the green and gold.

Now his name sits in police statements and legal arguments instead of just team sheets and highlight reels.

The fine can be appealed. The hamstring will heal. The bigger question is how a 22-year-old, once framed as the face of the next generation, navigates the fallout from a night on Anzac Bridge that refuses to go away.