Mutu takes case to CAS

1:44am Saturday 6th September 2008

Adrian Mutu has filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport against FIFA's order to pay 17.17million euros (£13.84million) compensation to Chelsea.

FIFA handed down the order in May, telling the Fiorentina and Romania forward that he must compensate the club that sacked him in 2004 following a positive test for cocaine.

A CAS statement said: "Mutu requests the CAS to annul the FIFA Decision and to establish that no compensation is in fact due."

No date has yet been set for a hearing.

The fine handed to Mutu was the largest ever from FIFA, having been based on the length of his contract left to run at the time of the sacking.

Chelsea signed Mutu from Parma for 22.4million euros in 2003, one of the first players to join in the Roman Abramovich revolution, but the player failed to settle at Stamford Bridge.

Following his dismissal, Mutu served a seven-month ban from football. He then signed for Juventus at the end of 2005 and Chelsea began proceedings against the player to claim damages for the transfer fee lost.

The 29-year-old has already received the backing of the International Federation of Professional Footballers' Associations, FIFPro, and the Romanian Footballers' Trade Union, AFAN in his case against the FIFA fine.

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