Sport 05-11-2004 FA Weak On Mutu who: The FA what: Accused of being soft on drugs after giving seven month ban to Mutu where: Stamford Bridge, LONDON when: Yesterday snippet: "Chelsea last night launched an astonishing attack on the Football Association after striker Adrian Mutu was handed a seven-month ban for taking drugs," says The Mirror. "The ban, conditional on the 25-year-old Romania international successfully completing a period of rehabilitation, and backdated to Oct 25, was Mutu`s punishment for testing positive for cocaine following a targeted drug test," says The Telegraph. "We believe it is far too lenient and sends out the wrong message about drugs in football," says Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon. "It is also indicative of a lack of direction within the FA... The FA has a responsibility to look after the interests of the game as a whole and in this case we believe it has shown itself to be weak over the issue of drugs." "A comparison has been drawn between the punishments received by Mutu and Rio Ferdinand, the England and Manchester United defender," comments Russell Kempson in The Times. "Ferdinand was banned for eight months for failing to take a drugs test he claimed that he forgot and missed the European Championship finals in June." But, argues The Guardian, "it would have been difficult to ban him for more than the eight months that Rio Ferdinand incurred for missing a test because that would have set a dangerous precedent, effectively offering an incentive for players to miss tests if they feared a positive result." [... more]

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