7 players who had their contracts terminated for bizarre reasons
Adam Johnson had his contract with Sunderland terminated recentlyA footballer’s contract isn‘t worth the paper it is printed on, according to most people involved with the game. Given the ease with which players can hold a club hostage, it’s perhaps unsurprising that when a club is in the position to terminate a player's contract with full prejudice, they are not shy in pulling the trigger.However, oftentimes, the reasons for a club ending an association with a player go beyond the footballing pitch, with some very bizarre reasons being afforded in the recnt past.Here are a few of the instances when a player has had their contract terminated for quite odd reasons.
#1 Adrian Mutu - Chelsea
Adrian Mutu arrived at Stamford Bridge in a blaze of glory. Scoring 4 goals in his first three games, the £15.8 million that Chelsea parted with to pry him away from Parma seemed money well spent. What followed, however, read like the script of a movie rather than a footballers career.
First, the Romanian captain’s turbulent two-year marriage to his wife Alexandra ended, with Mutu losing custody of his son as well. A sex scandal with a Romanian movie star was Mutu’s next story that served as tabloid fodder. A car chase involving police resulting in a driving ban also followed, which ended in the striker being advised to seek psychiatric help.
Mutu ought to have listened, as the final straw that broke Chelsea’s back was his admission that he had taken drugs, which were alleged to be cocaine. Chelsea came down hard on Mutu, sacking the Romanian with immediate effect, stating “In coming to a decision on this case, Chelsea believed the club's social responsibility to its fans, players, employees and other stakeholders in football regarding drugs was more important than the major financial considerations to the company.”
“Any player who takes drugs breaches his contract with the club as well as Football Association rules.” The case did not end there, as the London club later pursued damages to the tune of £14 million, which Mutu’s subsequent clubs Juventus and Livorno were advised to pay.