Football's tortuous disputes processes have been exposed by the fact that Chelsea are still waiting for a verdict from Fifa on their demand for damages from Adrian Mutu, reports The Guardian.
The player appealed initially against Chelsea's decision to sack him to the Premier League, which backed the club, and then to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which dismissed Mutu's appeal.
Chelsea then told Fifa of their intention to pursue Mutu for compensation under the world governing body's rules concerning breaches of contract "without sporting just cause". Inexplicably, Fifa informed Chelsea in October 2006 that its own Disputes-Resolution Chamber had no jurisdiction in what was a contractual matter involving two parties who had submitted to Fifa's rules.
Chelsea went back to CAS and inevitably the court found in favour of the club.
"The DRC does have jurisdiction to determine the appropriate sanction and/or order for compensation arising out of the dispute between Chelsea and Mutu. Mutu is not entitled to object to Fifa jurisdiction," it said
Finally, Fifa agreed to the principle that Mutu - now with Fiorentina - had breached his contract without sporting just cause. But that verdict was months ago and Chelsea, who wrote off the player's £13m fee on sacking him and who have since incurred hundreds of thousands of pounds in legal fees, are still waiting to learn what compensation they might receive.
