Adrian Mutu's appeal against an order to pay his former club Chelsea €17.2 million (US$25.5 million) in compensation following his dismissal

Court of Arbitration for Sport agreed Friday to hear Adrian Mutu's appeal against an order to pay his former club Chelsea €17.2 million (US$25.5 million) in compensation following his dismissal for taking cocaine.FIFA told the Romania striker last month he must pay the record amount to Chelsea after he was banned from football for seven months in 2004 for using the drug."Adrian Mutu requests the CAS to annul the FIFA decision and to establish that no compensation is in fact due," the court said in a statement.Chelsea paid 15 million pounds to Italian club Parma to sign Mutu in August 2003.After the suspension was completed, Chelsea released Mutu in October 2004 and received nothing when he joined Italian club Juventus. The 29-year-old Mutu now plays for Fiorentina.No date has been set for the hearing. A ruling is expected later this year.