THE REGION'S big three of the region's top football clubs could face harsh penalties over the alleged use of fake passports among foreign players.

Middlesbrough, Sunderland and Newcastle could all be given severe fines or even a points deduction if players within their current squad with supposed 'dual citizenship' are found to have bogus passport documentation.

All of the clubs have players listed in the National Criminal Intelligence Service 'cash for passports' investigation and face an anxious wait over the outcome.

The FA insist that they have not launched their own investigation, however, it is clear that any clubs found guilty of such malpractice could face huge penalties.

A stance welcomed by PFA Chief, Gordon Taylor.

He said: ''The FA's disciplinary sanctions are there, and if someone has knowingly broken their rules they can be docked points or fined.

''If there is a breach of a rule there is going to be consideration for penalties to make sure it does not happen again.''

The passport inquiry follows cases in France, Spain and Italy where players have been found to hold EU passports to which they are not entitled.

Middlesbrough have four listed in the enquiry.

They are: Mark Schwarzer, Paul Okon, Carlos Marinelli and Joseph Desire-Job.

However, Schwarzer, Okon and Marinelli all qualify as citizens of European countries through ancestry.

Schwarzer's parents are both German, Okon has a German father and an Italian mother, while Marinelli has Italian grandparents.

The club are also confident that Cameroon international Job, who was born in France, will also be cleared of any wrong doing.

Club spokesman Dave Allan insisted: "We are confident there is no problem with the passports of any of our overseas players."

Newcastle United also have four named on the list.

South Americans Nolberto Solano, Cristian Bassedas, Diego Gavilan and Cordone hold dual nationality and will be asked to produce their EU passports for examination.

However, the club deny any wrongdoing over the matter.

A club spokesman said: "Our position has not changed. We don't make the rules, we abide by them."

A position supported by local rivals Sunderland, who last night insisted that the passports of two of their foreign players, Brazilian Emerson Thome and Argentinian Julio Arca, were completely in order.

Thome, the club's record £4.5m from Chelsea, who previously played for Sheffield Wednesday, has dual nationality because his wife is Portugese.

Arca signed for Sunderland in August and was issued with an Italian passport by the Italian Embassy in Buenos Aires on the strength of his grandmother's Italian citizenship.

The statement said that Sunderland took the added precaution of having the British Embassy monitor Arca's passport application.

"Finally, at the request of the club Julio Arca's passport was presented to immigration authorities at Heathrow Airport, who assessed and verified this in advance of his arrival," said the statement.

The investigation came to a head following several recent high-profile cases such as Brazilian Edu's protracted transfer to Arsenal.

However, the only Premiership player found to have been illegally playing in this country was Derby's Argentine striker, Esteban Fuertes, who was discovered to have false ducumnets despite playing 10 games for the Rams.

Sports minister Kate Hoey approached the NCIS to provide assistance after the problem appeared to esculate following similar cases involving Newcastle's Solano and Arsenal's Lithuanian-Greek, Tomas Danilevicius. She said: ''There is no room for complacency. Clearly, there is a problem in other countries in Europe and we need to be vigilant.''

Hoey, Home Office officials, the FA and the PFA will meet officers from the NCIS next week to discuss the problem