Mutu Drugs Ban

[Doc Sark]

Dunno how many people will actually have an opinion on this but I'm siding with the Jimmy Hill line of thought. I was watching Jimmy Hills Sunday Supplement and he was defending Adrian Mutu and justifying the length of the ban, saying he was just a kid and kids make mistakes. Seven months is fair enough for me. He got caught, he owned up and now he has to rebuild his life. I feel a little sympathy for him for a number of reasons, a) he's younger than me. not by much but hey, and if I cocked up like he has I would hope I could start again, b) he's a talented footballer who has had life made anything but easy for him by Jose Mourihno (not an excuse for taking drugs but a reason) and c) seven months for me, and I imagine for most other like minded people of my age is a very long time to be deprived of doing the thing you enjoy the most. A footballer of his calibre and considering his previous good disciplinary and professional record should be entitled to a second chance.

In my opinion Rio Ferdinand, Edgar Davids and Jaap Stam committed worse offences. Rio, in the eyes of the F.A, could have taken all kinds of drugs and was waiting for them to leave his system before he took a test, I don't think he did, but he could have done, hence the hefty ban from the F.A. Stam and Davids as far as I'm aware were banned from international football for taking performance enhancing drugs. Now really whats worse? Taking recreational drugs or taking performance enhancers and effectively cheating. I think 7 months is long enough for a young man of 22, he will learn his lesson and probably come back a better person, he has shown significant remorse. I don't know if anyone saw his apology on Football Focus last Saturday. Yes it might have been set up but from where I was sitting he seemed very embarassed and genuinely sorry.

[Cz]

Absolutely. Considering that his actions have pretty much destroyed his reputation, it would be pointless to lengthen the ban simply because of past sentencing dished out to Ferdinand. Mutu admitted what he had done, and considering his position at the club it's easy to see what drove him to take the drugs in the first place. What's more, these drugs were merely recreational, and wouldn't have any effect on his performance in competitive matches. Seven months is a perfectly fair length of time, and the outrage at the FA's supposed leniency is really quite irritating.