The Court of Arbitration
for Sport has ruled that Fifa must impose financial sanctions on
Adrian Mutu for breaching the terms of his Chelsea
contract.
The Romanian striker, now at Fiorentina, had his contract
terminated by Chelsea after he tested positive for cocaine in
October 2004.
He joined Juventus on a free transfer during his seven-month
suspension, even though he had cost The Blues £15million.
Chelsea successfully claimed Mutu had breached the terms of his
contract by failing the drugs test and called on Fifa to decide on
a compensation figure for the player to pay them.
Mutu argued that he should not be liable to pay any compensation,
and Fifa said they did not have the jurisdiction to make any
order.
However, Fifa must now make the decision after Chelsea took their
case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and had their
appeal upheld.
"CAS has upheld the appeal filed by Chelsea FC against a decision
rendered on 26 October 2006 by the Fifa Dispute Resolution Chamber
(DRC) concerning the Romanian football player Adrian Mutu," read a
statement from CAS.
"In its decision, the Fifa DRC denied jurisdiction to determine
what sporting sanction and/or financial compensation should be
imposed upon the player further to the breach of his contract with
Chelsea FC."
