Cafu heading for jail?

2006-06-13 08:15

Rome - Brazil captain Cafu received a nasty surprise on the eve of his side's World Cup opener against Croatia on Monday when a magistrate demanded he be jailed for nine months over acquiring a European Union passport under false pretences.

A local judicial department source said it stemmed from false documents presented concerning his wife and her Italian ancestors which got the 36-year-old AC Milan star invaluable status as a naturalised Italian and therefore not counted among the non European players at a club.

Cafu said he could not comment on the magistrate's recommendation.

"I cannot tell you anything because I have not been officially informed," he said after Brazil's eve of match training session in Berlin.

"It is my brother who told me by telephone."

However, the four-time World Cup finals veteran - twice a winner - had time to joke about the situation when reminded he had dedicated the 2002 World Cup triumph to his wife.

"I think it is a Croat who is having a laugh (to unsettle the team).

"We don't know why the news arrived now but I am going to leave that to one side now.

"I will deal with it after the World Cup," he added.

Coach Carlos Alberto Parreira said he viewed the story as an attempt to "destabilise" the squad at the World Cup.

"We've been over here four weeks (warming up in Europe) and this business only emerged today," Parreira said quoted by Folha Online newspaper.

"It's another way of destabilising the team. It won't affect us. I have spoken with Cafu and he is quite calm about it and says there is nothing to be afraid of."

Cafu's club president at the time, Franco Sensi of AS Roma, could also face 10 months in prison for his role in the affair which took place during the 1998-99 season.

The prosecutor Angelantonio Racanelli has called for Cafu's wife Regina Feliciano to receive nine months jail, the player's agent Cristoforo Colombo 15 months and AS Roma's former Argentinian striker Gustavo Bartelt nine months, as he too holds double nationality.

Bartelt has already been suspended for a year, in November 2001, by the Italian football federation (FIGC) over the same scandal.

The investigation into the affair has been ongoing for several years and the first magistrate who investigated it recommended that none of the accused should be prosecuted, but it was overturned on appeal.

The present trial should be over in a week said the justice department.

- AFP