Mutu must pay Chelsea €17m after losing cocaine appeal

FORMER Chelsea striker Adrian Mutu has lost his appeal against FIFA’s ruling that he must pay the English club €17 million in damages for breach of contract. Mutu, who cost the Blues €17.5m in 2003, was sacked a year later after he tested positive for cocaine, and was given a seven-month worldwide football ban.

After being axed by Chelsea and serving his ban, the Romanian joined Juventus in January 2005, and at the end of the following season he moved to Fiorentina.

In May last year, Mutu was ordered to pay the damages by FIFA’s Dispute Resolution Chamber but the player lodged an appeal against their decision with the Court of Arbitration for Sport. However, the CAS yesterday dismissed Mutu’s appeal and confirmed that the player must pay €17,173,990 in compensation to Chelsea.

A CAS statement: “The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has dismissed the appeal filed by the Romanian football player, Adrian Mutu, against the decision rendered by the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber (DRC) on May 7, 2008, in which he was ordered to pay €17,173,990 compensation to his former club, Chelsea FC, for breach of contract.

“It is the third decision rendered by the CAS in this matter. In 2005, it confirmed the decision of the Football Association Premier League Appeals Committee finding that, because of a positive doping test, Mutu had committed a breach of the employment contract without just cause."