English Soccer ‘Hooligan’ Deported by Italy in World Cup Crackdown

Italy expelled the self-styled leader of England’s soccer hooligans Tuesday as part of a crackdown against spectator violence at the World Cup.

Three days before the tournament begins, Paul Scarrott, 34, was put on a British Airways flight from Rome to London with two police guards under an Interior Ministry deportation order.

Scarrott, flown home eight hours after being detained, was the first English fan to be deported from Italy, where massive security is in place to try to stop hooliganism from marring the month-long soccer finals.

Scarrott shouted “God Save the Queen!” as police escorted him into Rome’s Fiumicino airport, witnesses said.

England welcomed his quick deportation.

“We are pleased to see that the Italian authorities are reacting so firmly towards those known to have a record of football-related offenses,” an embassy spokesman said.