Brazil's Cafu awaits verdict on passport charge

Brazil captain Cafu could face a prison sentence if he is convicted this week of falsely obtaining a passport.

The AC Milan defender is one of several players charged in Italy following an investigation dating to 2001. The case centres around claims of foreign players applying for Italian passports.

Cafu, who said he could not comment on each story about him, would be more likely to get a suspended jail term if convicted. A 10-month sentence is possible if he is found guilty, but in Italian law, people with no previous convictions usually have prison terms of less than two years suspended.

"The news coming out of Italy is that this case is finally, after five years, drawing to a conclusion as early as this week," BBC Five Live correspondent Gordon Farquahar said. "An Italian prosecutor is leading a series of charges against a number of players for allegedly falsifying their passports.

"There was an issue with people needing to be able to get into the teams because of the limits that there were on overseas players and to get around this a number of players applied for Italian passports.

"In some cases there were suspicions they had falsified the documents and Cafu and his wife were among those who were charged at the time.

Source: euFootball.BIZ © Copyright 2006 - All rights reserved.