Mutu plans charitable solution

Fiorentina forward Adrian Mutu has offered to make a huge donation to charity if his former employer’s Chelsea are prepared to waive his 17million euro fine.  Mutu was handed the huge fine by Fifa for breaching his contract at Stamford Bridge after he tested positive for cocaine in 2004.

Mutu took his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) but they upheld Fifa’s ruling.  However, the player himself insists he cannot pay such a large sum (it is in fact the highest fne ever levied by FIFA) and has now written to Fifa president Sepp Blatter and Chelsea with his offer of a large charitable donation in place of the fine.

He said:  “I can’t pay that kind of money and it’s not a question of desire but one of understanding and rationale.

“I propose to make a significant donation to a charitable association in Florence or elsewhere that looks after children with problems related to substance abuse and to make another donation to a charity chosen by Chelsea in London or in England and the same in my country, Romania.”

Personally I’m inclined to think this is a better solution for everyone involved, except Chelsea I suppose.  Mutu just can’t afford to pay that large sum, of that I don’t doubt and I’m sure Chelsea can manage without the money which, presumably, would be paid in installments over a large number of years.  Helping out substance abuse charities seems like a much more realistic and worthwhile way for his fine to be used and it also has relevance to his case.

On a slightly different tangent it is good to see Mutu getting on with his career in Italy.  I was very impressed when he first moved to Chelsea but after his positive drug test and subsequent ban I wouldn’t have gone betting

on him returning as the same player.  However, he has excelled in Serie A and is one of the league’s better strikers in my opinion at least.  Fiorentina have started the season fairly well and with just two games gone they’ve won one and drawn one.  Mutu himself has already found the net even with this cloud hanging over him and it seems like a fairly safe bet that he will continue to hit the target over the course of the season regardless of whether or not his attempt to pay his fine in charitable donations is accepted.