World players’ union  FIFPro have pledged their support to Adrian Mutu as he prepares to appeal against FIFA’s order that he should pay former club Chelsea 13.68million.

FIFA’s dispute resolution chamber announced on Thursday that Mutu must make the compensation payment after testing positive for cocaine while at Stamford Bridge in 2004.

Romanian striker Mutu was sacked by Chelsea following his failed test and has since rebuilt his career in Italy, where he currently plays for Fiorentina.

A statement from FIFPro on their website, www.fifpro.org, said: “FIFPro is in disagreement with the decision of FIFA’s dispute resolution chamber condemning the Romanian footballer Adrian Mutu to pay an amount of over 17 million euros as ‘financial compensation’ to his former club Chelsea, after he was caught in a doping test in September 2004 for using cocaine for which reason he was dismissed.

“FIFPro will assist Mutu when the Romanian player will lodge an appeal.”

FIFPro claim an English player in the same circumstances would have been treated differently.

Their statement said: “When the same offence would have been committed by a player in possession of an English passport, then this player wouldn’t have had to pay any damages at this dismissal, since the FA Premier League rules do not provide this.

“For this reason this can be considered as discrimination based on nationality.”

They also state: “It is extremely strange that a player who is dismissed by a club must pay damages based on the transfer amount previously paid for him, whilst he has had no control whatsoever on the amount of this fee.”

Posted on August 25th, 2008 by Dan
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The Giallorossi tabled a bid - believed to be in the region of 18 million - for the Romania international last week, but it was rejected by Fiorentina.

And after seeing Roma finish second to Inter Milan in Serie A last season, club captain Totti has admitted frustration at the failure to land Mutu.

“Did I expect the Mutu situation to end like this? No, it really seemed like a done deal,” Totti told Gazzetta dello Sport.

Posted on July 31st, 2008 by Dan
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Roma have been linked with Mutu for most of the summer, and on Tuesday the Viola revealed that they had received, and were considering, an offer from the Giallorossi, believed to be in the region of €20m.

This declaration seemed to suggest that it was a virtual formality that the Romanian would become a Roma player, yet the next day Fiorentina released a statement in which they stated that the bid had been rejected, and Mutu was going nowhere.

There have been many theories as to why Fiorentina apparently changed their tune within the space of 24 hours, but Prandelli insists that, while he was a little concerned, there was never any chance of Mutu leaving.

“It’s true that I was worried,” he told La Repubblica.

“But deep down I never doubted that it would end like this. It wasn’t simple optimism, but logic.

“If you spend over €60m on reinforcing a squad, and there are 20 days left before the Champions League preliminaries, then it makes no sense to sell your star man.

“The President is a wily man and I want to thank him for his efforts.”

Mutu has been a revelation at the Stadio Franchi since his 2006 move from Juventus.

Posted on July 28th, 2008 by Dan
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