Adrian Mutu

London: The English Football Association knew it would not please everybody when it delivered its verdict on striker Adrian Mutu.

The seven-month suspension imposed on the 25-year-old, sacked by his club Chelsea for his admission of cocaine use, satisfied Mutu himself, the players? union and, probably, world body Fifa which demands a six-month minimum for such offences.

For Chelsea, the World Anti-Doping Agency, the British government and much of the British media on Friday, however, the punishment was totally inadequate.

Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon is furious and his club now face the possibility of seeing Mutu, for whom they paid almost 16 million pounds ($29 million), line up against them for an opposing team next season.

?Chelsea is extremely disappointed,? Kenyon said in a hard-hitting official club statement.

?We believe it is far too lenient and sends out the wrong message about drugs in football. It is also indicative of a lack of direction within the FA at this time.

?As a club we can only take the action we believe is right for Chelsea. However the FA has a much wider responsibility to look after the interests of the game as a whole and in this case we believe it has shown itself to be weak over the issue of drugs.?

The ?lack of direction? reference is a jibe at the fact that the ruling body is still to appoint a chief executive following the resignation of Mark Palios on August 1.

The FA hit back, saying it took ?doping control matters extremely seriously?.