!!!!!!!!!!Official Mutu is from Juve!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (6 Viewers)
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I'M NO COKE ADDICT
Jan 16 2005
CHELSEA STAR TALKS OF DRUG SHAME FOR FIRST TIME
By Frank Wiechula
THE words come slowly, painfully. Occasionally, they falter in his throat.
But Adrian Mutu wants to talk...
-About the shame of his cocaine use...
-About the friends who stood by him, the people who shunned him...
-About his gratitude towards the Football Association for not hammering him while he was down.
He doesn't want sympathy, doesn't want to make excuses.
Just to talk.
The place is the Hampshire countryside and he brings along his wife, Alexandra, for support.
"I used cocaine five or six times. I used it to change the way I felt," said Mutu, 25, who is undergoing rehabilitation at the Sporting Chance clinic - brainchild of Tony Adams and the project's chief executive Peter Kay.
"But no, I am not an addict."
Maybe not an addict. Perhaps just a pampered playboy with too much money and too much fame?
"No, that's not true," says the Romania international. "When I took the stuff I had had too much to drink and I made a really bad choice, a really bad mistake.
"Everybody can imagine how painful this is. I haven't so many words to describe it. It's very, very painful and I was very depressed.
"When you're not playing, either not selected or injured, you have too much time and you get into trouble.
"Small problems become bigger. And I had life problems, like divorce.
"And if you don't have support it's very difficult to get over them. People must understand we are all human beings, we make mistakes.
"Of course I regret them, I'm very sad about what happened."
And Mutu knows the stigma will be attached to him for ever.
Yet he also knows it is the sort of experience that has to be used to change his life ... for the better.
The Romanian, who has now signed a pre-contract with Juventus after being sacked by Chelsea, almost sounds relieved - pleased even - that he was caught.
"It is all in the past," he insists. "My life is changing now for the future, for the better.
"When I do come back I'll be back stronger, like a real man. Stronger in my head, stronger inside - able to manage my life better.
"But I'm not counting down the days like a man in prison saying another day, another week has passed. If I did that it would drive me mad.
"I didn't ask for a B test. (His first test proved positive for cocaine and Mutu accepted his guilt, although he had a right to a second test). I made a mistake, I accept I did something wrong, it was a wake-up call.
"Now I want to get back my good life with no dirty things inside. I've been training hard with my old club Dinamo Bucharest, now by myself, and it's very tough when you see your friends playing football.
"But I have to keep going and transform the anger inside me into something positive.
"There's an anger I can't play football, that I'm not allowed to. There's a personal anger because I put myself in that situation.
"But, at the same time, what happened was very good. Why? Because I can see who my real friends are and can clean up something that is wrong.
"I accept footballers are role models and we have to give a good example on and off the pitch. And I would tell young players: 'Don't be like me. If you have problems, go and tell somebody, it's very important'.
''If I can help just one person that would be great.'' Mutu's move to Italy looks set to be the subject of a prolonged legal battle between the player, Chelsea, Juventus and probably the PFA, FA and Premier League.
But the striker - who cost Chelsea £15.8million two years ago - is eligible to play football again in May. And he is thankful to the FA for giving him the chance to return to football so early.
The Soho Square disciplinary chiefs came under fire for handing him what many thought was a lenient sentence. And Mutu acknowledges it could have been worse.
He declares: "I want to say the FA have been very fair and very honest with me and I want to thank them for that. They gave me seven months and I know it could have been a lot longer.
"But even seven months seems like a lifetime for me."
Despite widespread reservations, Mutu believes the FA's drugs policy is effective.
''The FA have a good programme," he says. "There are some great men in the FA and they can judge things well."
But he believes individual clubs should be doing more to help those who succumb to pressure and temptation.
He adds: "Some players have big life problems. The most important thing in the next year is to put someone new inside the club, a man who the players can talk to ... like a life coach.
''I hope to be the last Premiership player this thing happens to, but I wouldn't be surprised if I'm not."
Cynics would probably not be surprised if it happened to Mutu again. But he says he has one vital weapon in his battle against the demons that plagued him ... the love of Alexandra and their two-year-old son, Mario.
He says: "You can only imagine how difficult things have been for her.
"But she has helped me a lot. A lot of women would have gone away, tried to escape. But she stayed and is trying to understand me and give me support.
"I'm truly a lucky man to have my wife next to me, and my son, and the support of my family.
"Many times I've talked to Peter Kay and he has helped me to understand what I've done and why, to learn about it and get stronger. Now I'm doing something to help me and my family."
-ADRIAN MUTU did not ask for, and was not paid, any money for this interview. But, at his request, we are paying a donation to two charities of his choice, one being the Tsunami Asia disaster appeal fund.
Jan 16 2005
CHELSEA STAR TALKS OF DRUG SHAME FOR FIRST TIME
By Frank Wiechula
THE words come slowly, painfully. Occasionally, they falter in his throat.
But Adrian Mutu wants to talk...
-About the shame of his cocaine use...
-About the friends who stood by him, the people who shunned him...
-About his gratitude towards the Football Association for not hammering him while he was down.
He doesn't want sympathy, doesn't want to make excuses.
Just to talk.
The place is the Hampshire countryside and he brings along his wife, Alexandra, for support.
"I used cocaine five or six times. I used it to change the way I felt," said Mutu, 25, who is undergoing rehabilitation at the Sporting Chance clinic - brainchild of Tony Adams and the project's chief executive Peter Kay.
"But no, I am not an addict."
Maybe not an addict. Perhaps just a pampered playboy with too much money and too much fame?
"No, that's not true," says the Romania international. "When I took the stuff I had had too much to drink and I made a really bad choice, a really bad mistake.
"Everybody can imagine how painful this is. I haven't so many words to describe it. It's very, very painful and I was very depressed.
"When you're not playing, either not selected or injured, you have too much time and you get into trouble.
"Small problems become bigger. And I had life problems, like divorce.
"And if you don't have support it's very difficult to get over them. People must understand we are all human beings, we make mistakes.
"Of course I regret them, I'm very sad about what happened."
And Mutu knows the stigma will be attached to him for ever.
Yet he also knows it is the sort of experience that has to be used to change his life ... for the better.
The Romanian, who has now signed a pre-contract with Juventus after being sacked by Chelsea, almost sounds relieved - pleased even - that he was caught.
"It is all in the past," he insists. "My life is changing now for the future, for the better.
"When I do come back I'll be back stronger, like a real man. Stronger in my head, stronger inside - able to manage my life better.
"But I'm not counting down the days like a man in prison saying another day, another week has passed. If I did that it would drive me mad.
"I didn't ask for a B test. (His first test proved positive for cocaine and Mutu accepted his guilt, although he had a right to a second test). I made a mistake, I accept I did something wrong, it was a wake-up call.
"Now I want to get back my good life with no dirty things inside. I've been training hard with my old club Dinamo Bucharest, now by myself, and it's very tough when you see your friends playing football.
"But I have to keep going and transform the anger inside me into something positive.
"There's an anger I can't play football, that I'm not allowed to. There's a personal anger because I put myself in that situation.
"But, at the same time, what happened was very good. Why? Because I can see who my real friends are and can clean up something that is wrong.
"I accept footballers are role models and we have to give a good example on and off the pitch. And I would tell young players: 'Don't be like me. If you have problems, go and tell somebody, it's very important'.
''If I can help just one person that would be great.'' Mutu's move to Italy looks set to be the subject of a prolonged legal battle between the player, Chelsea, Juventus and probably the PFA, FA and Premier League.
But the striker - who cost Chelsea £15.8million two years ago - is eligible to play football again in May. And he is thankful to the FA for giving him the chance to return to football so early.
The Soho Square disciplinary chiefs came under fire for handing him what many thought was a lenient sentence. And Mutu acknowledges it could have been worse.
He declares: "I want to say the FA have been very fair and very honest with me and I want to thank them for that. They gave me seven months and I know it could have been a lot longer.
"But even seven months seems like a lifetime for me."
Despite widespread reservations, Mutu believes the FA's drugs policy is effective.
''The FA have a good programme," he says. "There are some great men in the FA and they can judge things well."
But he believes individual clubs should be doing more to help those who succumb to pressure and temptation.
He adds: "Some players have big life problems. The most important thing in the next year is to put someone new inside the club, a man who the players can talk to ... like a life coach.
''I hope to be the last Premiership player this thing happens to, but I wouldn't be surprised if I'm not."
Cynics would probably not be surprised if it happened to Mutu again. But he says he has one vital weapon in his battle against the demons that plagued him ... the love of Alexandra and their two-year-old son, Mario.
He says: "You can only imagine how difficult things have been for her.
"But she has helped me a lot. A lot of women would have gone away, tried to escape. But she stayed and is trying to understand me and give me support.
"I'm truly a lucky man to have my wife next to me, and my son, and the support of my family.
"Many times I've talked to Peter Kay and he has helped me to understand what I've done and why, to learn about it and get stronger. Now I'm doing something to help me and my family."
-ADRIAN MUTU did not ask for, and was not paid, any money for this interview. But, at his request, we are paying a donation to two charities of his choice, one being the Tsunami Asia disaster appeal fund.
"It was only a couple of times."
"I can quit whenever I want."
These are the oldest addict lies in the book. I am not ready to give him the benefit of the doubt just yet. Though in his favor, a big step towards his recovery is his admission of the whole thing -- even to not even taking the B test.
I just hope for Juve's sake this turns out in the best possible way: an angry and motivated Mutu with a massive chip on his shoulder who sees his return to Serie A in Juve as his chance for redemption. We could use an attacker out there with that kind of fire.
"I can quit whenever I want."
These are the oldest addict lies in the book. I am not ready to give him the benefit of the doubt just yet. Though in his favor, a big step towards his recovery is his admission of the whole thing -- even to not even taking the B test.
I just hope for Juve's sake this turns out in the best possible way: an angry and motivated Mutu with a massive chip on his shoulder who sees his return to Serie A in Juve as his chance for redemption. We could use an attacker out there with that kind of fire.
