Cristian Volpato was pulled over twice in two hours on Sydney's streets last Thursday night. The second stop, on Anzac Bridge, ended with an alleged positive cocaine test.
The 22-year-old Australian midfielder — who featured three times for the Socceroos at this year's World Cup — was first stopped at around 11:05 p.m. and cleared by a roadside drug test. Then, roughly two hours later, police caught him driving 30 mph over the speed limit in a BMW coupe. A second test flagged cocaine, with a follow-up oral fluid sample sent for further analysis, according to the BBC.
A complicated year gets messier
Volpato only switched international allegiance to Australia in May, having previously represented Italy at youth level. He went straight into the World Cup squad, played against the United States in the group stage, and was part of the side that exited on penalties to Egypt in the round of 32. That's a lot of football identity crammed into a few months — and now this.
Football Australia issued the kind of statement organisations write when they're hoping something quietly goes away: aware of the allegations, in contact with the player, monitoring the situation. Standard holding pattern. What comes next depends on what the lab analysis confirms.
If the follow-up sample backs up the roadside result, Volpato is looking at potential legal consequences in New South Wales and, depending on how Football Australia and any club he's contracted to decide to act, possible sporting sanctions too. Drug use and a speeding charge don't tend to sit quietly in a player's file.
At 22, with World Cup minutes already on his CV and dual Italian-Australian eligibility in his pocket, Volpato had options most players his age don't. Right now, he's made things considerably more complicated for himself.
Football Australia says it continues to "support the player throughout this process." The player, meanwhile, has a lab result to wait on.
