Romanian still struggling to pay ridiculous £14.6m fine

Adrian Mutu was sacked by Chelsea in 2004 on account of his cocaine abuse, and was given a seven month ban and a £20,000 fine by the FA. When he signed for Juventus (via Livorno) as a free agent during this mandatory exile period, the Blues demanded £9.6m from the player to compensate for the initial transfer fee.

Mutu soon regretted hiring a lawyer he saw running down the street after an ambulance, as the fine was increased to £14.6m after two appeals to the very same Court of Arbitration for Sport who recently banned Chelsea from transfer activity.

Some might say that the transfer ban helped to restore karmic balance following Chelsea’s lack of compassion towards the Romanian, but the point remains that £14.6m is a penalty that only a handful of footballers could realistically afford to pay. In his latest bid to avoid the angry Russian debt collectors, Mutu has written an open letter to FIFA and his former employers. Sky Sport Italia printed the highlights, which Goal.com roughly translated:

“To Chelsea, the FIFA disciplinary committee and FIFA president Josep Blatter

“I write this letter

Mark Ward makes good use of his time behind bars

During a career that spanned through the eighties and nineties, Mark Ward notched up an enviable list of achievements: he played in Wembley cup finals, scored in Merseyside derbies for his hometown club Everton, and came within a few points of winning the league with the lauded West Ham team of 1986. Stuart Pearce once singled him out as the trickiest opponent he ever face, and after a game at Nottingham Forest, Brian Clough declared: “Take Ward to the [1986] World Cup.”

After being relieved of his duties as Altrincham player/manager in 2001, however, Ward’s fortunes took a turn for the worse. Playing in an era where professionals weren’t set up for life with ridiculous pay packages (his biggest contract earned him £2,000 per week), Ward was getting by on handouts and income support. After accepting an offer to rent out a house in his name and hand over the keys to a third party who would pay him a weekly wage, Ward found himself on the wrong side of the police, who raided the property

Man City’s inconsistent star accused of taking cocaine

Brazil is famous for many things - beautiful beaches, colourful street parades, slightly gay-looking currency - but if the claims of Pele are to be believed, the South American nation may soon gain a reputation for footballers who dabble with naughty substances.

During a private tourism event, the legendary erectile dysfunction solution advocate claimed (Fat) Ronaldo and Robinho had been on the cocaine while attending a private party in Sao Paolo:

“It is unfair to talk about drugs in football because of just one or two cases, like Ronaldo and Robinho, who have that problem.”

Pele may have been caught out revealing an unspoken truth about Brazilian football, but it is more likely he was trying to divert attention away from the curious case of his son Edinho, who was a known cocaine user and suspected drug trafficker.

After Robinho’s hilariously bad penalty kick yesterday (3.15 above), a spokesman for the Brazilian pooh-poohed his accusation:

“We strenuously refute any such suggestions. The notion of him taking drugs is absurd and we completely deny it.”We are trying at this moment to get Pele to clarify the situation.

“We think these comments have been genuinely misunderstood or got lost in translation.”

‘Ballers get involved in a little import/export

Spanish cocaine lovers will be devastated to hear that 600kg of the white stuff has been seized by police, in a smuggling ring that is said to involve many stars from the world of football.

Eleven people have been arrested, including two recruiting agents and several current and former professional footballers. The Spanish press allege one of the naughty substance gang is a former Atletico Madrid star, and another is a former manager of a French first division team.

BBC News reports:

The Spanish authorities believe the suspects were using their football connections as a cover for drugs trafficking.

The police found the cocaine hidden in packets among machine parts for wind farms inside a shipping container in Madrid.

The drugs had been transported to Spain by boat from Argentina.

The authorities alleged the agents organised this smuggling operation while on a trip to Latin America recruiting professional footballers.

Following the arrests, FIFA have said they “strongly condemned any criminal activities which may be, even if indirectly, associated to football.”

Despite Adrian Mutu’s best efforts, Spain consumes more cocaine than any other European nation.

A tip of the hat to Daryl at The Offside for pointing our noses in the direction

Tomorrow’s headlines today…

As you have been wondering how Rio Ferdinand found it appropriate to name both his children after an obscure actor, The Spoiler has been looking for the headlines that will grace the newspapers tomorrow. Looks like it’s going to be a slow news day…

Stephen Appiah one step closer to the Premiership
The former Juventus midfielder has confirmed that he is finally fed up at Fenerbahce, and is hoping to terminate his contract with the Turkish club. West Ham and Portsmouth have long been trying to lure the Ghana international to England and will be delighted to hear that Appiah is on the lookout for a new club. The 27 year old may be the perfect addition to West Ham’s lightweight midfield, but the cash strapped club are likely to be reluctant to meet his wage demands, rumoured to be in the region of £70,000 a week.

Mutu to appeal against fine
Sexy druggie Adrian Mutu is set to launch an appeal against his massive £13.5 million fine, to be paid to former employers Chelsea. Boasting a newfound sense of morality, Mutu referred to his punishment as “inhumane” and “unjust”, and has vowed to fight against FIFA insistence that he pays Lampard’s wages for a few months.

Also appearing on a computer near you…

Grid Crasher covers all the important motorsport news - from Formula One to sexy bikini car washing

“I don’t care about this medal. I wanted gold,” said the Swedish wrestler who threw his bronze medal to the floor in protest
[Bild]

Recreational drug user Adrian Mutu owes Chelsea £13.8m - that’s at least two months of Frank Lampard’s time
[The Offside]

…Now we mention it, Frank appears to have about £14m on display in his wallet
[Kickette]

chickendinner’s Premier League top ten predictions
[chickendinner]

Oscar de la Hoya’s niece seems nice
[Machochip]

Former Miss Italy enjoys footballers and constant nakedness

I have not actually seen the agreement a model must sign to become Miss Italy, but I can only assume there is a clause stipulating a compulsory relationship with a footballer. The pageant show has already given us Martina Colombari, Francesca Chillemi, Vincenza Cacace and Elisabetta Gregoraci, and now 1999 winner and nudity enthusiast Francesca Lodo joins their ranks. She has been engaged to Inter’s Javier Zanetti (despite the fact that she met his current wife in 1992) and she has also enjoyed the company of Francesco Coco - a self-professed ‘drugged-up gay who lives in nightclubs’ who has also steamrollered former WOTD Manuela Arcuri.

French World Cup winner tells all in new autobiography

Despite having a haircut that would exclude most men from any kind of social interaction and a name reminiscent of soft focus grot films, Emmanuel Petit really lived it up during his time at Arsenal. In his autobiography A Fleur de Peau, published in France yesterday, the former defensive midfielder said he ‘went off the rails a bit’ after winning the World Cup:

“On my days off I discovered the parallel world of Parisian nights - private soirees, swapping clubs,” says Petit.

“They often went on in incredibly luxurious apartments whose owners I didn’t even know - but everyone recognised me.”

The unscrupulously honest Frenchman goes on to talk about a sexy rendezvous at the Sopwell House Hotel in St Albans:

“This pretty girl came regularly,” says Petit. “We had a relationship one day in the snooker room. The next morning,