Cristian Volpato was pulled over twice in the same night in Sydney — and the second stop was worse than the first.
The 22-year-old Australian midfielder, who featured three times at the World Cup, was allegedly caught driving 30 mph over the speed limit on Anzac Bridge in a BMW coupe at around 1 a.m. on Friday. Police administered a roadside drug test. It came back positive for cocaine. An oral fluid sample was taken for further analysis.
The first stop, roughly two hours earlier at 11:05 p.m., had actually gone fine — a drug test came back clean. Then he got back in the car.
A messy night for a player still building his name
Volpato only switched allegiance from Italy — where he'd represented the youth teams — to Australia in May, just ahead of the World Cup. He played in the group stage against the United States and was part of the squad that went out to Egypt on penalties in the round of 32. He's still at the start of his international career, or at least he was.
Football Australia confirmed it was "aware of the allegations" and said it had been "in contact with the player" while continuing to "monitor the matter." That's the diplomatic version. What happens next depends on what the lab analysis shows and how the governing body decides to respond.
Volpato holds dual Italian and Australian citizenship, which adds another layer of complexity to any disciplinary picture — there are options on both sides if Australia decides they've seen enough. Whether this becomes a footnote or something more serious hinges entirely on what comes back from that second test.
