Juventus successfully appeal Mutu ruling; don't owe Chelsea anything

Juventus do not owe Chelsea any money. That's the verdict of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which today ruled that Juventus are not liable for the great deal of money that Adrian Mutu owes the Blues over his sacking in 2004. After being dismissed from Chelsea and banned by the FA following his positive test for cocaine, the Romanian then made his way to Italy, where both Livorno and Juve were involved in a transfer that took him to Turin (and paid Chelsea nothing).

After a long legal process in which Chelsea tried to recover at least some of the money they lost over the Mutu saga, CAS decided to award the Blues damages, which Mutu had to pay. Since €18 million plus interest is rather a lot of money even for a professional footballer, Mutu couldn't pay, and FIFA then decided that Juventus and Livorno were also liable for the damages. Both clubs appealed to CAS, and today's ruling is the result of that appeal.

Here's the relevant part of the statement that appeared on Juventus's website:

Following the news circulated in the last hour, Juventus confirms that the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne has notified of the arbitration decision between Chelsea FC and Juventus regarding the transfer of Adrian Mutu. The decision wholly dismissed the claims of Chelsea FC, sentencing them to pay the legal costs. This decision has no effects on the finances of Juventus ...

I don't think anyone was counting on ever seeing that money again. Which is good, because it's now almost certainly going to be impossible for the club to recoup what it was owed. Oh well. Hopefully we didn't spend too much money on the lawyers ...