Two England football fans were expelled from Japan in the nation's first bid to prevent hooligans from attending the World Cup finals.
"We ordered the two, both aged 34, to leave the country today," said Mr Noboru Morikawa, an official of the immigration office in Narita airport, the main gateway to Tokyo.
The two, whose were not named "because of their privacy," were detained yesterday after the immigration office refused them entry into Japan.
"We expelled them because their names were on the hooligan list which we received from British authorities in advance," the official said.
The men had told immigration officials they came to Japan "for sightseeing," Mr Morikawa said.
Earlier this month in South Korea, Andrew Cooper (38) became the first suspected English football hooligan to be refused entry to either of the host nations.
AFP