Mutu given ban for failed test

Mutu will return in October (GETTY IMAGES)

The former Chelsea striker Adrian Mutu has been suspended until 29 October for testing positive for a banned appetite suppressant, Italy's anti-doping tribunal ruled yesterday .

An anti-doping prosecutor had asked for a one-year ban but Mutu's representatives argued he should serve just a three or four-month suspension because they said he consumed sibutramin by accident in a herbal medicine. Mutu, the Fiorentina and Romania forward, has been serving a provisional suspension since failing the two drugs tests in January so the 31-year-old will be able to return to action in October.

Mutu, who was sacked by Chelsea in 2004 for cocaine use and served a seven-month ban, has been missed by Fiorentina, with the Florence side sliding down to 10th in Serie A and being knocked out of the Champions League last 16 by Bayern Munich. Fiorentina are to stand by Mutu.