Pretoria - Police have continued their crackdown on potential trouble-makers who have tried to sneak into the country during the soccer World Cup, detaining a British national in Johannesburg at the weekend.
The 42-year-old, who police said posed a threat to public order, has been sent home after he was refused entry into South Africa.
Immigration officials, reacting to information they had received from the Crime Intelligence Division, intercepted and detained the British citizen at the OR Tambo International Airport on Friday.
The police's National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NATJOINTS) said the man landed in Johannesburg on a flight from Heathrow Airport.
According to police, the man has a history of inciting racially motivated violence at sporting events.
"It was thus decided that he would pose a threat to public order and that he should be prohibited from entering South Africa," NATJOINTS said.
He was sent back to the UK on Saturday.
The British national is the 12th person to be refused entry into South Africa in the build-up to and during the soccer World Cup.
Eleven Argentinean football hooligans who tried to sneak into the country were also detained at the airport and sent back to their country.
Police said intelligence indicated that the soccer hooligans would have engaged in acts of violence and provoked conflict with certain fans of opposing teams and other groups from Argentina during the World Cup.
