Former Chelsea player Adrian Mutu has been ordered by world football governing body FIFA to pay a whopping £13.68 million (A$28 million) fine to Chelsea over a failed drug test in 2004.
Mutu was banned for seven months after testing positive to cocaine and was sacked by the club in October 2004. He is now playing for Fiorentina in Italy’s Serie A.
It’s the biggest fine ever handed down to a footballer, calculated from the value of the remaining period on his contract with the club.
Chelsea is, unsurprisingly, thrilled with the outcome.
"Chelsea Football Club can confirm that it has received the decision from FIFA's Dispute Resolution Chamber (DRC) on the claim made against Adrian Mutu,'' the club said in a statement on its website.
"Chelsea is delighted with the DRC's decision to award the club (compensation).
"This is an important decision for football. Not only did the DRC make us a very significant monetary award, the decision also recognised the damaging effect incidents involving drugs has on football and the responsibilities we all have in this area.
"Chelsea will now be following the process laid out in the DRC's decision to claim the money from Mutu.''
