"Adrian Mutu faces a lengthy ban after it was revealed yesterday that the Fiorentina striker has failed a drugs test for the second time in his career.
The Italian Olympic Committee said that Sibutramine, an anti-obesity drug, was discovered in his system after the game against Bari on January 10. It could lead to a suspension of up to four years for the 31-year-old.
Victor Becali, one of the player’s agents, said that his client is “a little worried but we are optimistic”. Mutu has seven days to decide whether to ask for analysis of his “B” sample.
The Romanian is still suffering from the consequences of taking drugs more than five years ago. He was sacked by Chelsea in October 2004 after a test revealed cocaine use and banned for seven months by Fifa, but the incident has cast a much longer shadow over his career.
Last summer the Court of Arbitration for Sport, in Switzerland, upheld a Fifa ruling that he must pay Chelsea about £15 million in compensation for breach of contract. Mutu has said that he cannot afford to pay and has continued the appeal process. He and Chelsea are waiting for a ruling from the Swiss Federal Court.
The forward was one of the first high-profile signings of the Roman Abramovich era costing Chelsea £15.8 million when they bought him from Parma in 2003, but the player soon struggled for form and developed a reputation for indiscipline off the field. When José Mourinho replaced Claudio Ranieri as manager at Stamford Bridge, Mutu’s career went into a downward spiral.
After his ban he joined Juventus as a free agent and Chelsea received nothing when the Italian club sold him to Fiorentina, where he has thrived on the pitch and seemed to lead a more stable existence off it.
Sibutramine, which is on Wada’s prohibited stimulants list, works by tricking the brain into thinking the stomach is full, but this month European medical regulators recommended that it be banned because of concerns about harmful side-effects."
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I am extremely pissed off by this... to sum it up (I could talk about this forever, so here goes a small summarizer):
Too much money and all this never brings anything good. If any of you have ever read Candide, you'd understand my thinking.
Whenever you give someone too much of something they want, it does not make them happier. they will lose in the end and this is somewhat comparable to some players like Mutu, who was stupid enough to do this to himself, he had everything that people dream of, but got himself kicked off one of the world's best clubs, Chelsea, and now probably will lose his entire career.
And what will he be remembered by? Not his beautiful football. How stupid he was, taking drugs and all that.
But
I will never forget what he did for us...
Additional details and discussion on the subject and other topics here
Italian anti-doping prosecutors have requested a one-year suspension of
Romanian international Adrian Mutu for doping, they announced yesterday
(Weds).
