Passport Mishap Leaves Monaco’s Leandro Cufré In Limbo

Sent-off from the substitutes’ bench during Argentina’s World Cup 2002 quarter-final match with Germany, Leandro Cufré has once again contrived to attract the wrong kind of attention this week.

The robust 29 year-old defender has dual citizenship with Italy, however, on Wednesday the Italian government decided to revoke his passport, claiming that his was one of 150 issued to Argentine footballs that had been forged.

“I was surprised. I had my Italian passport withdrawn from me and I didn’t know why,” he told l’Equipe, the paper fully believing the defender to have made the statement in good faith.

Although no fraudulent activity has been found on the former Roma player’s part, he is still not considered an Italian citizen and, therefore, is a non-EU national. As Monaco have already filled their quota of non-European players, the LFP have decided that the La Plata-born defender is ineligible to play in France.

This is certainly a blow to both the player and the club, for whom he has featured 15 times for in Ligue 1 this season, contributing three goals.

The timing, given the gravity of the problem, is not particularly bad as Cufré could be transferred during the (currently open) transfer window. Even if the remaining two weeks of January pass with no action, Cufré’s contract ends in June and it had seemed increasingly likely that he would have left the club in any case.

Robin Bairner, Goal.com