Are you going to the funeral? You’re fired! A cruel Christmas Eve for the former Chelsea player

As a player, he had a career that athletes in Azerbaijan never dream of, yet current coach Adrian Mutu was fired by the local club for an understandable breach of contract. The former Chelsea player went to his mother’s funeral, then was sacked on Christmas Day.

If this year’s Christmas in the Czech Republic is taking place in a negative atmosphere due to the recent tragic events in Prague, Romanian coach Adrian Mutu was no happier. On Tuesday, December 19, his mother Rodica died at the age of 71.

An unsincere condolences

Mutu decided to travel back home to Romania and helped with the speedy organisation of the funeral. But when he returned to Azerbaijan, where he was coaching the local Nefchti Baku, he was met with more sad news. The club broke off contact with him as he left on a busy seasonal schedule.

The Azerbaijani league is in full swing, specifically on Thursday Nefchti advanced to the quarterfinals of the cup and on Christmas Eve won a league match. The absence of the coach worried the club management so much that they terminated the contract with Mutu.

“Today we terminated the contract with Adrian Mutuby mutual agreement . The club thanks Adrian for his cooperation, his hard work and wishes him success in his future engagements. The club also extends its condolences to his late mother. Neftchi is fighting for high positions in the Azerbaijani league and cup and calls on all its fans to support and unite,” Baku said in a Christmas statement.

The deep condolences mentioned in the statement are far from sincere. Nefchti did not behave empathetically in one of the most difficult moments of Mutu’s life. While the statement does mention the notion of mutual agreement, Mutu clearly had no choice. You want to go to a funeral during the season? You’re out!

The firing wasn’t necessary

Mutu is a concept in the world of football. There is no bigger name in the Azerbaijani league, after all, he is a former Premier League winner, still in his active playing career. In addition to that, he has been named the best Romanian player of the year four times.

As far as Baku is concerned, the sacking made no sense in terms of the table. Although the club is fighting for the Top 4 and the Conference League qualification, the title fight will not concern them as they are already 13 points behind the first place. The departure due to a death in the family was definitely overlooked.

Source: Nefchti Baku, Transfermarkt