SI

Fan Arrested After Shining Laser At Chelsea’s Mykhailo Mudryk

The 22-year-old winger was subject to a cold reception at Arsenal, including an incident that may have gone too far.

Andrew Gastelum

Fan Arrested After Shining Laser At Chelsea’s Mykhailo Mudryk
Fan Arrested After Shining Laser At Chelsea’s Mykhailo Mudryk /

A 21-year-old man has been arrested for shining a laser onto the face of Chelsea winger Mykhailo Mudryk.

The incident occured during Chelsea’s 3–1 away loss to Arsenal on Tuesday at the Emirates after Mudryk entered as a substitute in the 71st minute. 

“This behavior is dangerous and totally unacceptable, and we will fully support the police with their enquiries,” Arsenal said in a statement. “We will obviously take the strongest possible action.”

Mudryk was the target of Arsenal fans’ wrath Tuesday after nearly signing for Arsenal over the winter transfer window. He ended up spurning the Gunners to sign an 8 1/2 year deal with Chelsea paying €100 million ($108.4 million) to Shakhtar Donetsk, Mudryk’s former club. 

The 22-year-old later reacted to the incident on Instagram with a caption saying, “it’s ok,” over a picture of the laser flashing across his eye. 

The Ukrainian international has yet to score a goal in 13 appearances for Chelsea as the club currently sits in 12th place in the Premier League. 

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Andrew Gastelum
ANDREW GASTELUM

Andrew Gastelum is a programming editor and writer at Sports Illustrated who specializes in soccer, the Olympics and international sports. He joined the SI staff in March 2021 and previously contributed to Howler Magazine and NBC Sports. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame alum and is currently based in Italy.

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