Mutu suspended over drugs test

Adrian Mutu has been charged by the Football Association following his positive drugs test and suspended from playing for Chelsea.

The 25-year-old Romanian striker was set to be charged last Friday following an informal FA hearing the previous day.

It is understood Mutu has been out of the country but it is not clear why the FA have taken so long to charge him after he admitted taking drugs.

Mutu has now been charged with taking a banned substance and a full disciplinary hearing will be held in the next few days before the player discovers his fate.

Despite calls from the Sports Minister Richard Caborn to ban him for two years, the maximum possible ban is understood to be six months.

But the FA could also choose to impose a lengthy rehabilitation instead of an outright ban. The ruling body has a policy of trying to help players with social drugs problems rather than punish them.

Mutu failed a random drugs test at Chelsea's training g round on 1 October. Although the club and the FA refused to confirm the positive test, Gordon Taylor, chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association, revealed last week that the player had taken cocaine.

But Mutu later denied that, insisting he used an unidentified substance to improve his sexual performance.

In an effort to try and reduce his potential ban he is also understood to have agreed to have counselling sessions with a psychiatrist as part of a rehabilitation programme.

Until the FA charge, Mutu had been available for selection at Chelsea but head coach Jose Mourinho has refused to pick him because of his troubled state of mind.

The club have yet to comment on the matter and, unlike in the case of former goalkeeper Mark Bosnich, when they cancelled his contract, they have not preempted any FA punishment.

Mutu has no future at Chelsea but the club are still torn over whether to sack him. Some directors are keen to recoup some of the £15.8m they paid Parma for him last summer while others are keen to take a strong anti-drugs stance.