Rio forgets to piss and is banned for eight months and fined £50,000 Adrian Mutu sticks cocaine up his nose and receives a seven month ban and a £20,000 fine. One rule for one and another rule for the others? You bet there is.
A statement on the FA's official website read: "Following a Disciplinary
Commission at Soho Square today, Adrian Mutu has been suspended for seven
months, subject to the player successfully completing a programme of education and rehabilitation.
"He was also fined £20,000 and will be subject to target testing throughout the
period of the suspension. This follows Mutu's failing a doping control test after
using a prohibited substance.
"However, the commission did take into account the mitigation put forward by the player. His suspension includes the period already served under an interim
suspension order, beginning on October 25, and will run until May 18, 2005."
The PFA chief Gordon Taylor said that Mutu now wants to get on with his life.
"He has admitted the charge and accepted his responsibility," he said, "and he
now wants to restore his good name in the international football world and
particularly in his homeland of Romania.
"He has admitted the charge and accepted his responsibility," he said, "and he
now wants to restore his good name in the international football world and
particularly in his homeland of Romania.
"We are appreciative of the Football Association's attitude with regard to the
emphasis on rehabilitation and education - and we feel he had a full and fair
hearing from that point of view."
Mutu's ban runs out on May 18th.