THE Football Association's decision to ban Adrian Mutu for seven months and hand him a £20,000 fine not only sends out the wrong message to youngsters looking to emulate their heroes, but to other professional footballers too.

Mutu recently had his contract terminated by Chelsea after testing positive for cocaine in a random drugs test in September. It is not the first time the club have sacked a player for cocaine use. Mark Bosnich suffered from the club's zero tolerance stance on drugs when he was dismissed 18 months ago for the same offence.

Neither is the 25-year-old striker the first to fall foul of drugs as a footballer. Paul Merson, Lee Bowyer, Chris Armstrong and Diego Maradona have all dabbled in recreational drugs; whereas Edgar Davids, Jaap Stam, and Fernando Couto all tested positive for the performance enhancing drug nandrolone at a consequence.

The irony will not be lost on Rio Ferdinand, who did neither, but was still banned for eight months after he missed a random drugs test - one month more than the Romanian.

Had Mutu given a random urine sample after a game under the influence of drugs he could have faced a maximum two-year ban. But because the World Anti Doping Agency does not require testing when an athlete is out of competition, he escaped the heavier punishment.

The leniency displayed by the FA's disciplinary committee took into account Mutu's admission of guilt and the fact he had already booked into a rehabilitation programme.

Remarkably, defenders of the Romanian's actions on a popular nationwide radio show believe he has been harshly punished, as cocaine is not a performance enhancing drug.

Others added what the individual does in his private life should remain just that, private, and of no concern to the outside world.

But what these people seem to forget is that cocaine is a Class A drug, and possession is a criminal offence. He is also guilty of a lesser crime, of course. As a role model Mutu is supposed to set a positive example to the thousands of youngsters who look up to him, but he failed on that score.

The FA had a perfect opportunity to make an example of the player who cost the Blues £15.8m, but the leniency of his penalty is unlikely to discourage any professional footballer, or youngster for that matter, from taking recreational drugs in the future; in the same way the punishment handed out to Bosnich, Bowyer, Merson and Maradona et al failed to curb Mutu's excesses.

A seven month ban and a £20,000 fine is little more than a slap on the wrists. The cash penalty is unlikely to make a any difference to his standard of living whatsoever, as it probably amounts to a little over two day's wages.

Had the FA hit the former Parma captain the maximum two-year ban alongside a community service programme, he, his fellow professionals and any football wannabe might think twice about snorting Class A narcotic's in the future.

But until they do come down hard when a footballer steps out of line, nothing will change. Until then they will carry on misbehaving, acting remorseful, taking the punishment and re-offending.

As things stand, Mutu is free to negotiate yet another lucrative contract next May when he picks up the pieces of a slightly tattered football career after seven months of so-called rehabilitation.

The message the FA is sending here is loud and clear if not a little worrying.

Naughty boy's can get away with anything, as long as they promise not to do it again.