The 28-year-old Romanian had his contract terminated by the Blues after he tested positive for cocaine in October 2004.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne on Tuesday ruled FIFA should decide on a compensation figure for Mutu to pay Chelsea for breaching the terms of his contract.

A statement from CAS said: "CAS has upheld the appeal filed by Chelsea FC against a decision rendered on 26 October 2006 by the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber (DRC) concerning the Romanian football player, Adrian Mutu.

"In its decision, the FIFA DRC denied jurisdiction to determine what sporting sanction and/or financial compensation should be imposed upon the player further to the breach of his contract with Chelsea FC."

Mutu, who had cost Chelsea £15million, signed for Juventus on a free transfer during his seven-month ban, and was then sold to Fiorentina in 2006 for £5.5million.

Chelsea successfully claimed Mutu had breached the terms of his contract by failing the drugs test and called on FIFA to rule on a compensation figure the player should pay them.

Mutu argued that he should not be liable to pay any compensation and FIFA insisted they did not have the jurisdiction to make any order.

But Chelsea appealed to CAS, who today backed their claim and FIFA will now have no option but determine a compensation figure.

It is the second time Mutu has lost a CAS ruling - two years ago he unsuccessfully claimed the cocaine test did not mean he had breached the terms of his contract.