2010-06-14 / Mutu ordered to pay Chelsea Football Club £14m damages for breach of contract following a doping offence

Former Chelsea striker, Adrian Mutu, has lost his final appeal in a five-year legal battle and must, therefore, pay his old club £14m in damages for breach of contract. On 14 June, 2010, the Swiss Federal Court (TFS) upheld the decision made by the Dispute Resolution Chamber of FIFA (DRC) and the appeal award of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) after Mutu, who is 31 and now plays for Fiorentina FC, was sacked by Chelsea in 2004 after testing positive for cocaine.
Mutu also received a sporting sanction of a seven-months' worldwide football ban for the doping offence.
Chelsea had brought legal proceedings against him in order to recover the £15m they had paid to sign him from the Italian Club Parma in 2003, and this claim has now been legally held to be valid.

The final decision in this case is clearly a very significant one in sports law and underlines the civil and financial consequences that may flow from a doping offence in football, which is not only the world's favourite sport, but also the world's most lucrative one. Apart from the sporting sanctions that may be imposed for a doping offence, the financial consequences/implications of the offence may also act as perhaps a greater deterrent for players to keep the 'beautiful game' clean and free from drugs, including recreational ones, such as cocaine. For as the old saying has it: 'those who live by the sword must be prepared to die by the sword!'

Professor Ian Blackshaw
14 June, 2010