Striker must pay €17m fine

Romania striker Adrian Mutu has failed in his bid to overturn an order to pay Chelsea €17.17 million (Dh89m) in damages after his appeal was dismissed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Now playing for Fiorentina in Italy, Mutu was fired by the English club five years ago following a positive test for cocaine and was instructed to pay the sum by Fifa, but took his case to sport's highest tribunal.

"The Court of Arbitration for Sport has dismissed the appeal filed by the Romanian football player, Adrian Mutu, against the decision rendered by the Fifa Dispute Resolution Chamber on May 7, 2008, in which he was ordered to pay €17,173,990 in compensation... for breach of contract," said the CAS.

Mutu last year described the decision as inhumane and said his offence did not justify such a huge sum.

The Romanian Players Union added that if an English player had committed the same offence, he would only have been fired, but would not have had to pay any damages.

It was the third time the case had come before the Lausanne-based court.

Chelsea terminated Mutu's contract in October 2004, one year after joining them from Parma. But the 30-year-old has since rebuilt his career at Juventus, after serving a seven-month ban for the cocaine offence, and Fiorentina.

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