Cristian Volpato, the Sassuolo midfielder who started for Australia at last month's World Cup, has been caught up in a drink-and-drug driving scandal after New South Wales police said he tested positive for cocaine following a speeding stop in Sydney.
Officers pulled the 22-year-old over on the Anzac Bridge in the early hours of Friday, clocking him at roughly 109 km/h in a zone with a much lower limit — police put the excess at close to 50 km/h over the posted speed. Sport5, citing local reporting, said Volpato had in fact been stopped twice within about two hours that night, first for driving between 86 and 94 km/h and then again at the higher speed.
A roadside saliva test administered after the second stop came back positive for cocaine, according to the New South Wales police statement carried by Al Jazeera and the Associated Press. A secondary sample has been taken and sent to a laboratory for confirmation, and the result of that analysis is still pending.
So far the consequences are administrative rather than criminal. Volpato's international driving licence, which allowed him to drive in New South Wales, has been suspended for six months, and he has been issued two speeding infringements. Police say no criminal charge has been laid at this stage.
Neither Sassuolo nor Football Australia has commented publicly on the case. Football Italia reported that the Serie A club is due to welcome Volpato back for pre-season training in the coming days, with no indication yet of any internal disciplinary step.
It is worth stressing that this was a police roadside drug test tied to a driving matter, not an in-competition anti-doping sample collected under FIFA or WADA protocols — a distinction that will matter if the case moves toward any sporting sanction rather than a purely legal one.
Volpato, born in the Sydney suburb of Camperdown, came through Roma's academy and represented Italy at underage level before switching his international allegiance to Australia only days before this year's World Cup squad was announced, a switch permitted because he had never played a competitive senior match for the Azzurri.
The move paid off with a place in Australia's squad and, eventually, a start in the Round of 32 against Egypt. Volpato had the Socceroos' best early chance, seeing a long-range effort clip the crossbar inside the first five minutes, before he was substituted after 74 minutes with the score level.
Egypt went on to win that last-32 tie on penalties after Australia had equalised through an own goal, ending the Socceroos' run at the tournament and sending Mohamed Salah's side through to a historic first knockout-stage victory and a quarter-final meeting with Argentina.
For now, Volpato's immediate future hinges less on the pitch than on the outcome of the laboratory analysis and whatever Sassuolo and Football Australia decide once it lands.
