TOKYO, June 17: Japanese police said on Monday that the bulk of arrests so far in World Cup-related incidents had involved Japanese nationals, not the foreign hooligans they had been so concerned about.

The police arrested 64 people in such incidents from May 28 to the end of the first round on June 14.

Of those, 40 were Japanese, with 12 Englishmen and three Irishmen among the rest, the National Police Agency (NPA) said.

An NPA spokesman said only one of the foreigners arrested had been involved in violence.

That incident happened in Sapporo, northern Japan, on June 7, the day of England’s 1-0 win against Argentina, when a 28-year-old English fan got into an argument and struck a Japanese man.

In some cases, excited Japanese fans were arrested for getting into scuffles with police, the spokesman said.

“There was one case in which a Japanese fan became excited after Japan’s win (against Russia) and charged into riot police with his motor scooter,” the NPA spokesman said.

In another case a Japanese fan was arrested for hitting a police officer after co-hosts Japan beat Tunisia 2-0 on Friday, he said. The win sent Japan to the second round of the World Cup finals for the first time.

Overall the arrests involved minor offences and the number had been far lower than police had feared.

“We thought there could be as many as 64 people arrested in one day,” the police spokesman said.

“It shows that the bulk of fans, whether they be Japanese or foreigners, are good people,” he said.

The Japanese had been particularly worried about British hooligans, but many Britons suspected of being troublemakers did not even make it to Japan, having been stopped from travelling by the authorities at home or refused entry by Japanese immigration officers.—Reuters