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Soccer Star May Forfeit Homes Over Contract Dispute
John Pacenti
12-01-2010
A five-year contract dispute between one of international soccer’s bad boys and England’s Chelsea soccer club has landed in Miami federal court.
Striker Adrian Mutu is Romanian by birth, now plays for the Italian Serie A club Fiorentina and lives part-time in South Florida. He is coming off a nine-month suspension for using a banned weight-loss substance.
The breach-of-contract dispute stems from Chelsea’s firing Mutu after he tested positive for cocaine in 2004.
Soccer’s international governing body, the Federation Internationale de Football Association, ordered Mutu in May 2008 to pay about $23 million in compensation to Chelsea for breach of contract. In addition, Mutu was ordered to pay 5 percent interest and costs.
Mutu has unsuccessfully appealed the ruling twice with the Court of Arbitration for Sport, an international body that mediates disputes in sports.
Chelsea turned to the U.S. federal courts Nov. 8 in a "petition to recognize and enforce the international arbitration award." The pleading before U.S. District Chief Judge Federico Moreno said he has jurisdiction because Mutu owns property in Miami-Dade County.
According to the Miami-Dade property appraiser’s office, Mutu owns two properties in Coral Gables and one in Miami with his wife, Dominican model Consuelo Matos. They are:
>A four-bedroom, 5,474-square-foot home on Alhambra Circle constructed in 2006, assessed at $1.7 million and purchased in 2008 for $2.6 million.
>A three-bedroom, 4,671-square-foot home built in 1951, assessed at $604,000 and purchased in 2007 for $1.4 million.
>A two-bedroom, 2,028-square-foot condominium at the Executive Residences in Miami’s Coconut Grove, assessed at $558,000 and purchased for $975,000 in 2006.
Rod Anderson, an attorney with Holland & Knight in Tampa who is representing Chelsea, declined comment on the filing, and Mutu has yet to respond to a court summons.
Mutu has scored 163 career goals as a striker and played for his native Romania in three World Cups.
Chelsea is one of the preeminent soccer clubs in England. Mutu’s contract was purchased from Parma in 2001 in a major acquisition to beef up offense, but the striker ended up scoring only six goals before he was suspended for drug use.
John Pacenti
12-01-2010
A five-year contract dispute between one of international soccer’s bad boys and England’s Chelsea soccer club has landed in Miami federal court.
Striker Adrian Mutu is Romanian by birth, now plays for the Italian Serie A club Fiorentina and lives part-time in South Florida. He is coming off a nine-month suspension for using a banned weight-loss substance.
The breach-of-contract dispute stems from Chelsea’s firing Mutu after he tested positive for cocaine in 2004.
Soccer’s international governing body, the Federation Internationale de Football Association, ordered Mutu in May 2008 to pay about $23 million in compensation to Chelsea for breach of contract. In addition, Mutu was ordered to pay 5 percent interest and costs.
Mutu has unsuccessfully appealed the ruling twice with the Court of Arbitration for Sport, an international body that mediates disputes in sports.
Chelsea turned to the U.S. federal courts Nov. 8 in a "petition to recognize and enforce the international arbitration award." The pleading before U.S. District Chief Judge Federico Moreno said he has jurisdiction because Mutu owns property in Miami-Dade County.
According to the Miami-Dade property appraiser’s office, Mutu owns two properties in Coral Gables and one in Miami with his wife, Dominican model Consuelo Matos. They are:
>A four-bedroom, 5,474-square-foot home on Alhambra Circle constructed in 2006, assessed at $1.7 million and purchased in 2008 for $2.6 million.
>A three-bedroom, 4,671-square-foot home built in 1951, assessed at $604,000 and purchased in 2007 for $1.4 million.
>A two-bedroom, 2,028-square-foot condominium at the Executive Residences in Miami’s Coconut Grove, assessed at $558,000 and purchased for $975,000 in 2006.
Rod Anderson, an attorney with Holland & Knight in Tampa who is representing Chelsea, declined comment on the filing, and Mutu has yet to respond to a court summons.
Mutu has scored 163 career goals as a striker and played for his native Romania in three World Cups.
Chelsea is one of the preeminent soccer clubs in England. Mutu’s contract was purchased from Parma in 2001 in a major acquisition to beef up offense, but the striker ended up scoring only six goals before he was suspended for drug use.