Cardiff City fans have hit back at claims that the club is becoming an embarassment to Wales - after the club topped the list of supporters banned from travelling to the World Cup.

The 112 people targeted is the highest number from a single club among more than 1,000 suspected British hooligans ordered to surrender their passports until after the tournament in Japan and South Korea.

I think that it would be a great pity if people allowed their views of Wales to be judged by this

Welsh Sports Minister Jenny Randerson

Cardiff's Ninian Park has been the scene of a series of violent incidents this season.

Most notorious were matches against Stoke City and Leeds United, whose fans are second and third on the list of those banned.

Unfairly branded

But followers of the Second Division club insist that it is tackling the problem caused by a small minority of thugs.

Clive Francis, chairman of the Cardiff City Supporters Club, said hooligans should not be described as fans.

Sam Hammam has pledged to crack down on trouble

"They don't bring any credit to Cardiff City football club or the city of Cardiff," he said.

"I'd rather differentiate between genuine supporters and those who associate themselves with the football club for the wrong reasons."

Cardiff City's millionaire owner Sam Hammam has pledged a "war on hooliganism" which he believes threatens his dream of taking the club to the Premiership.

National image

In addition to 112 Cardiff supporters, 17 from Swansea and 13 from Wrexham have also been stopped from travelling abroad.

Welsh Sports Minister Jenny Randerson said it was "unfortunate" that so many Welsh fans had been targeted by the police operation.

Jenny Randerson is concerned for the image of Wales

"I think that it would be a great pity if people allowed their views of Wales to be judged by this."

John Williams, director of the Sir Norman Chester Centre for Football Research at Leicester University, said the prominence of Cardiff in the list reflected a blanket approach by police.

He said the law allowed them to act against potential as well as convicted troublemakers if they had "reasonable grounds" to suspect they might misbehave.

"Any club whose fans have been involved in large scale incidents will appear strongly on this list," he said.

Preventative measures

Bryan Drew, head of the Specialist Intelligence Branch of the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) said they had worked on getting the bans for the past two years with Japanese colleagues.

"We have the power to prevent them leaving the country," he said.

The next target would be "risk supporters", he added.

Korean police are also ready to tackle hooligans

"These are people not currently the subject of a football banning order but who may have a history or criminal record in this country," he said.

These factors may still allow the Japanese authorities to refuse them entry.

England fans heading for the World Cup in Japan have been warned about their behaviour.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) says those who break the law may be arrested and detained for up to 27 days while the police investigate the case.

On Thursday, Cardiff City were fined �20,000 after the Football Association of Wales found the club guilty of misconduct following crowd trouble at their FA Cup tie with Leeds United in January.

The club has also been ordered to warn supporters against hooligan behaviour by placing notices in match programmes and around their Ninian Park ground next season.