Cristian Volpato, a key player in Australia's World Cup campaign, is facing a possible ban after allegedly testing positive for cocaine.
Police stopped the 22-year-old Socceroos midfielder twice in the same night in Sydney, with the first stop at 11:05pm local time on Thursday night after he was caught travelling between 86-94km/h in a 60km/h zone. A roadside breath test returned a negative result.
He was stopped again two hours later for travelling at 109km/h in the same 60km/h zone, and allegedly returned a positive result for cocaine.
Volpato was issued an infringement notice for excess speed, while his international driver's licence was suspended for six months – which means he cannot drive in New South Wales. A secondary sample of oral fluid was taken for further analysis.
Volpato played in three of Australia's four World Cup matches as they reached the round of 32, where they were knocked out by Egypt in a penalty shootout. He switched allegiances to Australia in May, having previously represented Italy at youth level.
The 22-year-old has played at Serie A side Sassuolo since 2023 and made 24 league appearances for the club as they finished 11th last season.
The police inquiry will continue, with further action potentially pending the outcome of the secondary sample analysis.
Source: BBC Sports