Chelsea Player Adrian Mutu, Appeals to Circuit Court

Posted on March 26, 2012 by Matthew Stockwell

Soccer player Adrian Mutu was recently ordered to pay approximately $22 million to the English Premier League's Chelsea Football Club, for breaching his contract by testing positive for cocaine use in 2004. The League originally found that Mutu was in breach of contract, and a Switzerland arbitration panel upheld the League's finding. In 2008, FIFA ordered Mutu to pay Chelsea the fee it had paid to Mutu's former team, as well as Mutu's signing bonus and his agent's fee. After Mutu exhausted his appeals, Chelsea filed suit in the United States District Court, Southern District of Florida, to enforce the award. Mutu claimed the penalty clause was unenforceable, but the Court rejected this claim.

Since the United States favors arbitration agreements in international contracts, Mutu had to prove one of the defenses to enforcement of the arbitration decision - in this case, that enforcement would be contrary to the public policy of the United States. Since there was a relationship between the penalty clause and the actual damages suffered by Chelsea, the Court decided that enforcement did not violate public policy.

Mutu has since appealed to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, but it does not appear that he will be successful.

 

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Duke Football Player Tyree Glover Arrested

Posted on April 22, 2011 by Matthew Stockwell

Duke football player Tyree Glover was arrested on Tuesday after police found almost 30 grams of cocaine in his possession. Police then obtained a search warrant for his dorm room, where they found 72 grams of marijuana. Glover now faces serious charges of possession of controlled dangerous substances with intent to distribute, the cocaine being the more serious charge.

Glover was dismissed from the team after the arrest. 

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Philadelphia Phillies Prospect Tyson Gillies Arrested For Felony Cocaine Possession

Posted on August 20, 2010 by Antonio Irizarry

Philadelphia Phillies prospect Tyson Gillies was arrested in Clearwater, Florida this morning and charged with felony cocaine possession.  The arrest stems from an incident that occurred this past June.  

The incident that led to the arrest involved Gillies waving down motorists outside of his car on the shoulder of U.S. 19 in Clearwater, being picked up by a passing officer for a courtesy ride to his hotel, and forgetting his stash of "white powder" on the officer's seat when he left the vehicle.  The "white powder' tested positive for cocaine on August 19th and the arrest was made today, August 20th. 

Gillies was a part of this past season's Cliff Lee trade between the Seattle Mariners and the Philadelphia Phillies.  Gillies was released on a $2,000 bond. 

With the continuous talk about HGH and Performance Enhancing Drug testing in minor league baseball, it looks like these athletes are engaging in the use of more common drugs still.  Let's see how the Phillies and Major League Baseball handle this one.

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