The bogus-passport scandal rocking Italian football took on a new dimension yesterday with two of big names appearing before separate judicial panels.

Lazio's Argentinian midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron appeared in front of a preliminary hearing in Rome that would decide whether his case should go to trial.

Veron, a key player in the team that won the Italian Championship last year, is suspected of using bogus papers in his Italian naturalisation process in an inquiry that has also implicated club president Sergio Cragnotti.

Meanwhile, Inter Milan's Uruguayan forward Alvaro Recoba appeared before magistrates from the northern city of Udine who last week indicted him for possessing an allegedly false passport.

It could be up to four weeks before George Best is fully recovered from pneumonia, his manager said yesterday. Best (54), had a "comfortable" night at Belfast City Hospital, where he was being treated, according to manager Phil Hughes.