In 2004 this Romanian international forward failed a drug test at his English club, which tore up his contract on the spot — then spent six years losing appeal after appeal against the eight-figure bill they sent him for the privilege.
The full story
FIFA's Dispute Resolution Chamber ordered Adrian Mutu to pay Chelsea €17,173,990 in May 2008 after the club terminated his contract over a positive cocaine test in 2004, for which he also served a seven-month ban. The Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld the award on 31 July 2009 and the Swiss Federal Tribunal dismissed his challenge on 10 June 2010, making it the largest sum ever ordered against an individual footballer.
The clues we handed out
— The playing ban that followed the failed test was seven months. The bill that followed the ban was the real punishment.
— The sport's dispute chamber sided with the club, then sport's highest court agreed, then a national supreme court agreed again.
— The sum was the unamortised remainder of a transfer fee. The club's argument was that he had destroyed an asset they had paid for.
— He kept playing for years afterwards, mostly in Italy, and stayed a fixture for his national side. The sport is football.
— Initials: A.M.
How this case played
ALLEGEDLY* edition No. 43. Three strikes to name Adrian Mutu, with a free clue
unlocked after every miss.
*A blind item you can check. Every puzzle is drawn from the public record —
court records, official rulings, and moments that unfolded on live television — and the
records are linked above. Allegedly.
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