Rome: A court prosecutor has called for Brazil captain Cafu to be convicted for alleged passport fraud, reports said on Monday.

Cafu and 17 others ? including his wife, AS Roma owner Franco Sensi and former Argentine player Gustavo Bartelt ? are facing charges in the two-year-old case.

Prosecutors alleged that Cafu and Bartelt used false passports to gain Italian citizenship and join Roma, circumventing rules that limit non-European Union players being hired by Italian clubs.

Both players were investigated over several years and Bartelt was suspended for 12 months in 2001 by the Italian soccer federation.

The prosecutor asked for a 10-month jail sentence for Sensi and nine months for Cafu’s wife and Bartelt, an Italian news agency said. Sentences under two years are automatically suspended in Italy. Sensi previously said that Cafu was an EU player due to his wife’s Italian citizenship. (AP)