Photo by New York Times

In case you missed it last year, the Showdown in Chinatown was one of the most memorable soccer events in New York City in recent memory.

Sacked former Chelsea striker Adrian Mutu is on the verge of bankruptcy and retirement from football after the well-documented verdict of the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The disgraced darling of Romanian football, currently plying his trade at Serie A club Fiorentina, has been ordered to pay $23.

Controversies and scandals and shame! Oh my! You guys did a great job of naming our bad boys of the week. Not a one went unguessed. And you even came up with some new scandals I didn't know/hadn't thought about! Congrats once again to "Eros, juve," this week doing business as "eros [...]

Fiorentina's Pantaleo Corvino is known to be one of the best sporting directors in all of Italian calcio. Over the years Corvino has discovered a wealth of talent, including Fabrizio Miccoli, Valeri Bojinov, Mirko Vucinic, Christian Ledesma, and Stevan Jovetic just to name a few. He is also responsible for bringing players like Sebastien Frey, Luca Toni, Adrian Mutu, and Alberto Gilardino to Florence.

The New York China Town charity exhibition from last year that involved NBA and world soccer stars is back Wednesday June 24th at 6:00 PM(tomarrow). Steve Nash, Claudio Reyna, Thierry Henry, Tony Parker, Javier Zanetti, Raja Bell, Adrian Mutu, Chris Bosh, Ivan Cordoba, Grant Hill, Giovanni van Brockhurst, and Yao Ming will be the participating athletes.

It's not that often a bunch of basketball superstars take the same field as some of the world's greatest footballers, but today - Wednesday, June 24th - the Steve Nash celebrity soccer game is happening.

If you're anywhere near the New York area, head down to Roosevelt Park at 6:00pm in Chinatown (Manhattan) and witness this excellent spectacle.

Steve Nash's Showdown in Chinatown took place yesterday and it looks like it was another success the scruffy little Canadian and his Football for Good charity. Not so much for Chris Bosh, but I guess expecting him to be the next Peter Crouch his first time on the pitch would be a bit much to ask.

Italian footballers seek alternative employment This new advert for Sky Italia features some of the biggest names in Serie A (well, you can#8217;t get much bigger than Quagliarella, can you?) trying their hand in the fast-paced environment of a TV newsroom. Adrian Mutu, Sebastien Frey, Alberto Gilardino, Simone Pepe and Fabio Quagliarella all take on bit-part [.

Well... we wouldn't have guessed the irony of this photo after Milan's 2-0 victory over Fiorentina last night. It wasn't just Paolo Maldini's last official game for the Rossoneri - but also Ancelotti's. After eight memorable years, we bid goodbye to Carlo. But if he goes to Chelski (notice the second irony : Adrian Mutu's name in the backdrop), he should expect a drastic change in his managerial duties.

Andrey Arshavin presents us with his best poker-face at the "Poker with Arshavin" project presentation at the Royal Bar of Moscow.

Even those of us that work in the fashion and/or marketing field are stumped by Victoria Beckham's new ad for her signature line. It makes the Marc Jacob ads look sane.

It's a witch hunt I tell you! Wait...wrong one. A @#$%ing disgrace! Chelsea Football Club have been banned by FIFA - not UEFA, it's important to note - from the registeration of new players for one year for once again illegaly tapping up a player (remember Cashley?) and inducing him to break his contract.

Nope, this is not a joke!

Fiorentina striker Adrian Mutu is pledging to fight against the order to pay Chelsea €17million compensation as he issues an open letter to FIFA, Sep Blatter, and the English club, according to the Italian media.

The striker was ordered to pay the mega sum following his drugs taking case which dates back to October 2004.

Not sure why Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas is so shy, he's been in top form lately. We'll have to set aside some special one-on-one confidence-building activities to help him get over this.

Let's check in with the rest of the visuals from yesterday's cracking games, shall we?

When Fernando Torres is left barely able to bitchface, no one is happy.

With a new round of Serie A coming up, the juiciest piece of footy action this week-end is probably the tie between Fiorentina and Lazio.  The home side have come through a rough period but are back to winning ways after two convincing victories vs. Napoli and Bologna.  Lazio on the other hand go into [.

I haven't been blogging quite enough lately in lately, in part because of the dark mood which seems to have taken hold here in Naples. The home team, Napoli, had a strong start to the season and was hovering around 3rd to 4th place in Serie A when "the streak" started - seven games without a win.
In fact, the town's beloved blue has earned just two points in seven matches and has slid down to mid-table, a place cemented by today's 1-0 loss to Genoa.

Too often, players will often blame off field problems for a lack of discipline, form or fitness, it becoming something of a Teflon shield to protect them from criticism off fans and players. It's a catch all term to cover all kinds of issues, from drinking (Too numerous to mention) , drugs (Adrian Mutu) , gambling addiction (Michael Owen) to having a persecution complex even though you do yourself no favours at all (Joey Barton).

Adrian Mutu is facing a bill in excess of £14.6m after a Fifa compensation award to Chelsea was upheld by sport's highest court. The sum was for Mutu's breach of contract relating to his having tested positive for using cocaine in September 2004.

Adrian Mutu has a £14.6m debt to Chelsea hanging over his head, but this weekend Fiorentina reaped the benefits.
Mutu finds peace only on the pitch as Serie A kicks off.

Russia's Mens National team made it through the international break unscathed. Now the stage is set for October 10th's battle with Germany in Moscow. On third episode of Russian Football Now's podcast, hosts Chris Riordan and Richard Farley discuss Russia's qualifiers against Liechtenstein and Wales as well as all the latest rumors surrounding the likes to Luciano Spalletti and Adrian Mutu's moves to the Premier League.

This is few days old, mind you.

Adrian Mutu, after having two appeals against his FIFA fine for breach of contract dismissed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), is now seeking another alternative to paying the 17-plus million euro fine to his former club, Chelsea.

Now he wants to make a substantial donation to several charities, including one of Chelsea's choice.

Seems as though we're learning new things about Adrian Mutu every week, doesn't it?

1. He takes his hair very seriously;
2. He looks sizzle-worthy as a lowly photocopier boy;
3. He has a thing for wearing costumes.

That last one got us a little excited. But unfortunately, he didn't go for the fireman who lost his shirt look.

Alessandro Del Piero arrives for Juventus team practice at Vinovo. ADP has become a father again - he announced on his website that his daughter Dorotea was born on May 4th and that mum and baby are doing great. Lovely news!
The Adrian Mutu-as-doorman commercial is out. Kind of anti-climatic after our fantasy version.

One team won, and the other lost. The details are fuzzy as there were so many more interesting things going on during yesterday's Showdown in Chinatown that you need to know about.

Such as?

Oh, some girl taking Adrian Mutu's crotch to the face after he over-ran the mini pitch. Or Tony Parker body-checking Ryan Babel into the stands.

Adrian Mutu is ordered by the Court of Arbritation for Sport to pay Chelsea £14.63m after losing his appeal against a FIFA ruling for a breach of contract. Mutu was sacked in 2004 after he tested positive for cocaine and given a seven-month ban, he cost Chelsea £15m in 2003. That's probably the most expensive line [.

Serie A is back which means Goals of the Week is back! You can't always expect the first day of the season to have the greatest goals, as the teams are just starting to get all their summer rust off and haven't hit their peak yet. But there were still some nice goals for us to watch this past weekend.

It's funny how karma works. Chelsea took an inhumanely stern line with Adrian Mutu, and now FIFA has taken a stern line with them.

The Blues have been found guilty of "inducing" French midfielder Gael Kakuta to break his contract with Lens in 2007. FIFA has forbid them to participate in the next two transfer windows, barring them from signing a player until 2011.

At risk of getting any details wrong, I'll hand over to a respectable news source to explain the "Holy f**k!" news about Chelsea FC that broke a couple of hours ago. Take it away, Associated Press:
Quote: Chelsea was banned from signing any new players for a year because it encouraged a teenager to break his contract with a French team and sign with the English soccer power.

Rory Delap throws some links at you If footballers were star signs [The Sun] Liverpool join Chelsea, Manchester United, and City in poaching accusations [The Spoiler] Adrian Mutu leaves long trail of dirt [The Independent], appeals to Chelsea with open letter [Caught Offside] Chelsea choose peculiar pose for team photo [MRWF] Czech player dies after scoring own goal [Dirty Tackle] [.

Don't know about you gals, but at Kickette HQ, the past week has been excruciatingly craptastic; the one thing we were excited about was the Juventus display of machismo we were able to put together for your viewing pleasure.

Soz for the tardiness but let's rise above like Vicky B's breasts and get on with it, shall we?

Although we are only 10 games into the season, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar is starting to look more and more like a big flop. 15 million euro were spent on the Dutch striker, and even if he reaches 5 goals this season it would seem like a big achievement. Sure you can say that he needs time to adapt to a new style of play, new language, new culture, but it's already November almost and we still have not seen Huntelaar's name on the score sheet.

Everyone expected the Inter vs. Milan derby to be an epic showdown, but ironically Serie A's biggest entertainment this week-end came from Genoa vs. Fiorentina. Although to be fair to both teams, this match had already been anticipated as a "Champions League" battle: a showdown between 4th and 5th-placed usually always gives rise to interesting [.

Everyone expected the Inter vs. Milan derby to be an epic showdown, but ironically Serie A's biggest entertainment this week-end came from Genoa vs. Fiorentina. Although to be fair to both teams, this match had already been anticipated as a "Champions League" battle: a showdown between 4th and 5th-placed usually always gives rise to interesting [.

(Summary is not available.)

Before we go on with the Team Of The Week, our thoughts & prayers are with those that were affected by the tragic earthquake that hit L'Aquila on Monday. I spent the summer of 2002 in L'Aquila, its a beautiful place with friendly people, keep hope that more survivors will be found and that the town will recover quickly.

A 70% hit rate with 7 out of 10 winners predicted correctly by Serie A Weekly not too...
please leave your comments and opinions @ serieaweekly.com

Seems as though we're learning new things about Adrian Mutu every week, doesn't it?

1. He takes his hair very seriously;
2. He looks sizzle-worthy as a lowly photocopier boy;
3. He has a thing for wearing costumes.

That last one got us a little excited. But unfortunately, he didn't go for the fireman who lost his shirt look.

One team won, and the other lost. The details are fuzzy as there were so many more interesting things going on during yesterday's Showdown in Chinatown that you need to know about.

Such as?

Oh, some girl taking Adrian Mutu's crotch to the face after he over-ran the mini pitch. Or Tony Parker body-checking Ryan Babel into the stands.

Adrian Mutu was fined $17.2 million euros today after a long dispute between him and his former club. It was supposed to be one of Cheslea's best additions to their team but things quickly went sour.

Adrian Mutu

Mutu used to play for Chelsea back in 2003 but was suspended after he tested positive for cocaine.

Drugs in sports is a big topic at the moment, but the news that Adrian Mutu must pay Chelsea 17million euros in damages for breach of contract due to a failed drug test, has to send shock waves throughout sports.

Adrian Mutu was signed by Chelsea in 2003 for £15m. A year later he tested positive for cocaine and was given a seven-month worldwide football ban.

This week, the Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected Adrian Mutu's appeal against an order to pay Chelsea damages after his sacking in 2004 for riding the white horse.

Having a snowcone. Dating the peruvian lady. Taking a sleigh ride. You get the idea.

Mutu, who was with the Blues for one season (03-04), now must cough up £14.