Adrian Mutu has been ordered to pay former club Chelsea over €17million after losing his final appeal in a legal battle which has lasted over five years, the Swiss Federal Court announced.
The court confirmed that it had upheld the decision made by FIFA and the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Mutu was sacked by the Barclays Premier League club in September 2004 after testing positive for cocaine.
The Romania international received a seven-month ban from football, but Chelsea took a firm stance on the forward and sacked him before then suing him to recover the money they paid to sign him.