Bohs fan in Ibiza faces extradition to Austria after arrest for assault

A YOUNG Irish football fan is facing extradition from Spain after being arrested on the holiday island of Ibiza for an alleged incident in Austria in July 2009.

On September 5 the Dubliner was arrested on the Mediterranean island on an international arrest warrant relating to an alleged assault and theft which occurred a day before Dublin club Bohemians played a Europa League qualifying match against RB Salzburg on July 14, 2009.

Austrian police allege three young men were involved in attempting to rob a bike and knocked over an 83-year-old Bavarian woman visiting the Austrian city, seriously injuring her.

At the time Austrian police accused members of the over 400 visiting Bohemians fans of being involved in the incident and began arresting young men in order to take DNA swabs.

Austrian police later claimed to have matched one of those sampled for DNA to a sample found on the bike involved in the incident which led to the injuries on the woman.

An international arrest warrant was issued for the young Dubliner late last year by the Austrian police.

Most EU countries, apart from Britain and Ireland, are members of the Schengen Agreement travel area with linked passport control systems. It is believed that when the young man attempted to pass through passport control in Spain, the existence of the outstanding international arrest warrant became known.

Garda sources confirmed last night the football fan had been arrested in Spain on September 5. A source confirmed that it was now up to the Spanish judicial system to decide whether the accused man would be extradited to Austria or not.

It is understood that Spanish authorities must decide within the coming days whether the man canbe handed over to Austrian police.