Cristian Volpato Faces Second Positive Cocaine Test Amid Legal Fight

Cristian Volpato’s insistence that he was the victim of a false positive roadside drug test has been rocked by the result of a second sample, which has also come back positive for cocaine.

The Socceroos playmaker, 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.

Those denials now sit against fresh lab analysis.

NSW Police confirmed a secondary oral fluid sample taken from Volpato last week has again tested positive for cocaine. He has been issued a traffic infringement notice and fined $722.

Speeding, then speeding again

The 22-year-old has already paid a heavy price on the road.

He lost his international driver’s licence for six months after police caught him driving a BMW at almost 50km/h over the speed limit on Anzac Bridge – at virtually the same spot where he had been booked for speeding just two hours earlier.

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

Volpato flew back to Italy the day after the incident and returned straight to work with Sassuolo. He responded on the pitch, scoring twice in the club’s first five league games, trying to shift the conversation back to football.

Injury spares immediate Socceroos 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 that is expected to rule him out of Australia’s friendlies against Brazil in Queensland later this month.

His absence spares coach Tony Popovic and Football Australia from an immediate decision on whether to pick him while the drug saga unfolds. For now, the national team can sidestep the storm.

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

“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 the test result.

“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 undertook a voluntary urinalysis, which he says showed no traces of cocaine, other drugs or alcohol.

An appeal would go straight at the way the roadside test was carried out. McGirr flagged potential issues of contamination and the methods used to collect the oral sample.

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

Inside Volpato’s version of events

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

Sassuolo later released a statement saying that, once he returned to Italy, Volpato underwent further urine and blood tests at the club, which came back negative. Cocaine, though, can clear from blood and urine within a few days, making the timing of any testing crucial. It is not known exactly when Sassuolo’s medical staff screened him.

Football Australia confirmed it has been made aware of the reported secondary oral test result.

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

For now, the case sits in a tense holding pattern. The police have their lab result and their fine. Volpato has his denials, his lawyers and a looming appeal.

The next move will not be made on a pitch in Italy, but in a room where the science, the procedures and the story of one of Australia’s brightest football talents will be pulled apart in search of an answer that sticks.