Johannesburg - South Africa has refused entry to the twelfth suspected football hooligan, a British male, at the OR Tambo International Airport, police said on Saturday.

"This individual has a history of inciting racially motivated violence at sporting events," said Brigadier Sally de Beer.

"It was thus decided that he would pose a threat to public order and that he should be prohibited from entering South Africa."

She said the man, aged 42, arrived on a flight from Heathrow on Friday.

"Airport and immigration officials, reacting to information received from the Crime Intelligence Division, intercepted and detained him."

The man will be repatriated to the United Kingdom on Saturday night.

12 refused entry to South Africa

He is the 12th person to be refused entry into South Africa in the lead-up to the kick-off of the FIFA 2010 Soccer World Cup.

Eleven 'barra bravas' from Argentina have already been prohibited entry from the country.

This week, De Beer said intelligence information indicated that "these persons would commit acts of public disorder, engage in acts of violence and provoke conflict with certain fans of opponent teams and other groups from Argentina during the 2010 FIFA World Cup".

"They are known to have a history of being involved in crime and antagonising local law enforcement agencies," said De Beer at the time.

According to the "La Barra Brava" Facebook page, the term loosely means "brave fans" but is generally also used to refer to so-called soccer hooligans.

Copyright News24.com. Reprinting is not allowed without express, written permission.