MUTU PLAYS RACE CARD

ADRIAN MUTU is to challenge his record compensation ruling against Chelsea on the grounds of racial discrimination.

The Romanian striker (right) was last week ordered by FIFA to pay his former club an astonishing £13.8million after he tested positive for cocaine in 2004.

Mutu, now 29, was sacked by Chelsea and then hit with a world ban for seven months before going to Juventus and Fiorentina.

Chelsea were finally awarded the payout by FIFA as they looked to recover most of the £16.8m fee they paid Parma in 2003.

But Mutu has now sought the help of European Players Union FIFPro, top Italian lawyer Marco Montanari and the Romanian players’ union chief Dumitru Costin to launch his appeal.

The player’s representatives say the rules that condemned Mutu did not apply to other British-based players caught using cocaine.

Montanari said: “We are talking here about clear discrimination regarding Mutu, who is Romanian because it is easy to see that some players inside the British community have been found guilty of the same crime.

“It is clear for everybody this was a revenge mission, with no legal basis and with the sole target to destroy Mutu.”