Mutu gathers support to challenge 'unjust and inhumane' fine

Adrian Mutu has vowed to appeal against the £13.68m fine he has been ordered to pay former club Chelsea, slamming Fifa's ruling as "unjust" and "inhumane".

Fifa's dispute resolution chamber ruled that Mutu must make the compensation payment after testing positive for cocaine while at Stamford Bridge in 2004. The Romania striker was sacked by Chelsea following his failed test but has since rebuilt his career in Italy.

He said: "This is an unjust and inhumane sentence," and confirmed that his lawyers were studying the case. "We are going to appeal. This sanction is not right, because I don't think I have committed a crime that merits such an amount."

World players' union FifPro have pledged their support to Mutu as have the Romanian Footballers' Trade Union.

Mutu and his lawyers are expected to present an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in the next few days, although reports suggest a decision by them will not be made before next year.

Elsewhere, the Premier League have confirmed that the first transfer deadline of the season will be extended to midnight on September 1.

The window is scheduled to close 24 hours earlier but has been put back because August 31 is a Sunday, following normal league guidelines. The move has been agreed between the Premier League, Football League and Football Association. Teams will then have to wait until January to sign players.

Carlos Edwards has pulled out of the Trinidad & Tobago squad for tomorrow's World Cup qualifier against Cuba.

The Sunderland midfielder will not travel to Havana for personal reasons after the Trinidad &Tobago Football Federation gave him permission to stay in England.

"Edwards is overcoming a family tragedy, and after being granted permission by the T&T management team to delay his travel by a day, eventually asked to be excused from making the trip," read a statement on the TTFF's official website.