TOKYO, June 6: A German man picked up in Tokyo on suspicion of being a hooligan has been handed over to immigration authorities for deportation, Japanese police said Thursday.

A police spokesman said the 22-year-old man was taken in for questioning after routine checks in Tokyo found that he “appeared suspicious”.

Subsequent checks with German police confirmed that the man was known to them as a hooligan, and the man himself told police that he was banned from watching matches in Germany as a result.

“We have turned him over to immigration,” the spokesman said. “He will probably be deported.”

Japanese media has reported that some 10 suspected hooligans have been refused entry to Japan, but this is the first case where one has been discovered in the country.

Japanese authorities have been braced for months against a potential wave of hooligans and have held repeated drills in how to subdue them should they get violent.—Reuters