Hong Kong rugby internationals Wiremu Maunsell and Riaz Fredericks were deported last night after Immigration Department officials refused them re-entry at Kai Tak airport.
Hong Kong vice-captain Maunsell and Fredericks, both of whom played for Hong Kong at the Pacific Rim championship last season, returned from weekend holidays in the Philippines and Thailand respectively yesterday when they were stopped and questioned by immigration officials.
Maunsell, a New Zealand passport holder, and Fredericks, who has an Australian passport, arrived in Hong Kong in summer last year on tourist visas.
They had travelled in and out of Hong Kong many times.
A few months ago, both players applied for work visas. They were turned down by the Immigration Department.
Before Fredericks was deported, he spoke to the South China Morning Post from an airport telephone.