Lawyer confident Mutu will be cleared

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ROME, Feb 24, 2010 (AFP) - Romania captain Adrian Mutu's lawyer believes the Fiorentina player will be cleared of doping when he faces trial next week after twice testing positive for a banned substance.

The 31-year-old's tests on January 10 and 20 showed the presence of the appetite suppressant sibutamine and he has been suspended ever since the results were made public.

Mutu tested positive after scoring in his side's 2-1 home win over Bari in the league on January 10 and also tested positive for the same substance 10 days later, following Fiorentina's 3-2 Italian Cup win over Lazio, in which he scored a brace.

It is not the first time the forward has tested positive for a banned substance having taken cocaine during his spell at Chelsea, which then saw him fired by the club.

"We're optimistic. With regards good faith we want to show that the substance wasn't taken to enhance performance and that the player didn't know that the product he took contained a banned substance," said his lawyer Antonio D'Avirro.

"Plus from the studies conducted by some experts it has emerged that the amount of sibutramine in the product he used was minimal."

Mutu, who has 29 goals in 69 appearances for Romania, risks a lengthy ban if he is found guilty of doping as it would be his second offence and at his age, that could spell the end of his career.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport last year upheld the 17.17-million-euro fine handed to Mutu by FIFA as a punishment for breaching his contract with Chelsea.

The Romanian says he is unable to pay the fine but has offered to make a donation to a charity in its place.

Mutu arrived in Florence in 2006 after a year and a half at Juventus, and this season he has played in 11 Serie A and six Champions League matches, scoring four and three goals in each competition respectively.