England T-shirt blows cover for forged French passport

NICOSIA - An England football shirt gave away a Senegalese man attempting to enter Cyprus on a forged French passport, police on the Mediterranean island said yesterday.

Suspicions were aroused when the man appeared at a checkpoint supervising crossings from the Turkish Cypriot north to the Greek Cypriot south of the divided island, wearing the England shirt and presenting a French passport.

"Being a football fan, the officer found it highly unlikely that a Frenchman would want to wear an England football jersey," a police source said.

"That was his first suspicion prior to the proper check on the passport, which turned out to be a fake," said the source.

The 22-year-old man, who has not been charged, was remanded in custody for six days pending further inquiries.