The French football authorities are investigating the legitimacy of Luciano Civelli's brother Renato's Italian passport. Civelli senior currently plays for Marseille and like Town's recent signing qualifies to play in the EU without obtaining a work permit due to his Italian heritage.

In the wake of the discovery that Monaco's Leandro Curfe was playing on a fake passport, the French authorities have launched an investigation into four other Argentinian players, Civelli, Bordeaux's Fernando Cavenaghi and Diego Placente, and Toulouse's Mauro Cetto.

A French League source is reported to have said: "The French League has contacted the Italian consulate in Paris and asked them to bring the matter to the Italian authorities.

"There are suspicions of false passports in Ligue 1. For us, the passports are valid, they were validated by the league, but anticipating possible protests at the end of the season, we contacted the Italian authorities."

The only club to comment on the situation so far is Toulouse who have denied any problem with Cetto's dual nationality. "His grandparents, on his mother's and father's side, are Italian and the player, according to Italian laws, benefits from the Italian nationality.”

Like his younger brother, Renato Civelli, 25, was born in Pehuajó, Argentina and started his professional career with Buenos Aires side Banfield before moving to Marseille in 2006. He spent last season on loan at Gimnasia back in his home country and returned to his French club in the summer.

TWTD has brought the matter to the attention of Town, who at present are unwilling to comment on the situation.

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