World Cup 2006

10 June, 2006

Too many tickets went to sponsors, complain some fans

Germany's gamble in inviting fans to come for the World Cup whether they have tickets or not appears to have paid off so far.

A crowd of 35,000 people gathered in Munich's sunny Olympic Park to watch the official opening ceremony and Germany's curtain-raising game against Costa Rica on a giant screen.

The majority were Germans, some of whom had travelled across the country to be at the "fan fest" in Munich, if not at the game itself.

But among them were also pockets of Costa Ricans and a liberal sprinkling of Mexican, Italian, and English fans, as well as Poles arriving early to watch their later game against Ecuador.

The excitement mounted as kick-off grew closer, with everyone seeming caught up in the party atmosphere.

Deafening noise

The noise when Germany scored their first goal was deafening. Klaxons squawked, horns blared and people shouted as they leapt about, many waving flags and most with faces painted in black, red and yellow stripes.

Three more goals from the hosts to two for Costa Rica ensured there were plenty of jubilant Germans by the time the final whistle went.

You don't need a ticket to enjoy the football Kimb Jones English fan

Many chanted "Berlin, Berlin, we're going to Berlin" - a reference to the venue for the final - as they danced around, clutching plastic jugs of beer.

"The feeling was really great," said Claudia Lohr, from Dresden. "We enjoyed the day and now we are waiting for friends from Poland to watch their game against Ecuador."

German fans Ben Budde and Manuel Willmann, both 25, who travelled from the Black Forest to watch at the Olympic Park, agreed that it had been a great experience.

"We cannot get into the stadium because the sponsors have all the tickets," said Mr Budde. "Here people are having a party - it's not quite the real thing but it's as good as you can get."

Goal fest

The Costa Ricans, though fewer in number, carried on chanting despite trailing Germany - and did not seem too disheartened by their 4-2 defeat.

So far, there has been little trouble between fans

"We shouted and screamed and jumped and never minded that there were 10,000 people supporting the other side," said Alina Soto, part of a group of Costa Rican folklore dancers in Germany for two weeks.

Masis Eugenio, a fellow dancer, said: "It was great that the first game had six goals. It was amazing.

"I think the fans around the world had a really good game to watch. We are a small country but our team did an excellent job."

Unlike Munich's Allianz Arena, where only those with tickets were allowed in, the Olympic Park offered free entrance and encouraged any and all fans to join the party.

Full to capacity

Olympic Park spokesman Tobias Kohler told the BBC News website: "We expected a lot of people if the weather was good and Germany was playing.

"We had a full park - the maximum capacity is 35,000 and we closed the gates an hour before the match began. There were a lot of people we couldn't get in.

"Of course there are always some things to improve on and we have to carry on until the last day of the World Cup... but it was a very good event."

Questions had been raised before the tournament about the potential security risks involved in staging large public viewing events for ticketless fans.

But a spokesman for Munich's police force said they were very happy with how all the day's events had gone, including the show at Olympic Park.

"It worked very well," he said. "It was a good day for us and Fifa are very satisfied with our work."

Security

Altogether there were 52 arrests across Munich in the course of the day, he said, with nine of those in the Olympic Park. Several people were injured when they tried to climb fences in crowded areas, he added, but none seriously.

The beer flowed in some venues

Some 3,000 officers were deployed to police the city, where dozens of biergartens and restaurants also offered fans the chance to watch on a big screen.

Josef Reisinger watched with friends at a large screen set up in at the Chinese Tower in Munich's English Gardens, a large, leafy park more used to hosting brass band concerts than soccer fans.

"We're happy - it's the best event of our whole life," he said. "We've been looking forward to this for six years now, and we've been counting down the days since New Year."

'Get a flight'

If Germany and its visitors can keep up the level of excitement and international goodwill shown on the first day for the next four weeks, it looks like being a World Cup to remember - even for those without match tickets.

English fan Kimb Jones, from Barnsley, summed up the day at Olympic Park: "We don't need tickets because of the fan fests.

"We've come for the football but also for this - for the crowd, it's amazing, it's brilliant.

"All I can say is, get a flight and get over here. You don't need a ticket to enjoy the football."

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In Herzogenaurach, allegiances are still important

The German town of Herzogenaurach has been split in half, thanks to a 60-year-old family feud.

Each side has its own bakers, butchers, bars and even schools.

What is equally remarkable in this small, southern German town is that the feud also led to the creation of two famous companies - Puma and Adidas - and, as a result, the birth of the modern sportswear industry.

"It's quite a crazy story because in this little town, Herzogenaurach, a cobblestoned medieval town, you have two of the world's biggest sports companies," says Barbara Smit.

"One on each side of the little river that runs through it."

Mrs Smit is just one of many authors attracted to the story of Rudolf and Adolf Dassler, the feuding brothers who wanted to make the world's first lightweight, but durable, sports shoe.

"They started off together in the 1920s in their mother's wash-room, but they had contrasting characters. One of them was a little bit more ebullient and back-slapping and loudmouth than the other and so they complemented each other well," says Mrs Smit.

"But during the war, these differences had turned into very large arguments also because of the fact that one of the brothers appeared to be much closer to the Nazi cause than the other."

'Betrayal'

The result was that the brothers never spoke again. Rudolf, or Rudi, set up his rival firm, Puma, on one side of the river; Adolf, or Adi, stayed on the hill and shortened his name to form Adidas.

Some of my family members from the Puma side have been a little bit, let's say, angry with me Frank Dassler Adidas

The town was split down the middle too. There were questions of personal loyalty, of politics, but also, this was post-war Germany. Jobs were scarce and the brothers ran the only successful businesses in town.

"It was kind of a real war in that Herzogenaurach town was split," says Frank Dassler.

"There was an Adidas butcher and a Puma butcher. If there was a chance to avoid being in the same class as another Adidas person, from the Puma perspective, then we certainly tried to avoid this. Certainly, the restaurants were split, so there was a typical Adidas hotel or Adidas restaurant and the other guys didn't want to go there."

Frank Dassler should know. He is the grandson of Rudolf Dassler, of Puma.

He is also the man who more than anyone has helped build a bridge between the two warring factions. He broke the town's taboo and has worked for both of them.

The strip of the Argentinian team will be popular with half the town

"I had been working for Puma for 10 years during the 1980s and then I was asked by Herbert Heiner, the CEO of Adidas if I would be in the new general council. I said you must be crazy to hire a Puma Dassler to go to the Adidas company and he said well, the times have changed and it was 15 years ago.

"It was always my dream to get back to the industry, but not some of the locals, they were shocked.

"There was a big newspaper article in the two local newspapers saying that it was a kind of betrayal to the old Puma history and some of my family members from the Puma side have been a little bit, let's say, angry with me."

Legacy

The town remains obsessed with the brothers' story. In fact, a whole museum has been dedicated to them.

The museum traces their history from their fledgling business in 1924 in their mother's laundry room.

It has the bicycle-powered machine which they would pedal to motor a cutter to trim the leather.

As it was just after World War I, they used whatever they could scavenge - including parachutes and army helmets.

Even in death, Rudi and Adi were not reconciled. At the local cemetery, their graves are about as far apart as you can get.

But their legacy means, in sporting parlance, that Herzogenaurach punches above its weight. Of all the teams playing in this World Cup, for example, more than half will be wearing Adidas or Puma kit.


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Mr Ahmadinejad's Holocaust remarks were widely condemned

The newly elected leader of Germany's main Jewish body has said the Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, should be barred from the World Cup.

Charlotte Knobloch described him as "a second Hitler". "He denies the Holocaust - that is illegal in Germany," she told the newspaper Bild.

Mr Ahmadinejad has said he might go and support the Iranian team in Germany.

Germany has already granted a visa to an Iranian Vice President, Mohammad Aliabadi, to attend the World Cup.

Demonstrations

Mrs Knobloch, elected leader of Germany's Central Council of Jews on Wednesday, said the German government should not invoke diplomatic immunity for Mr Ahmadinejad, but rather should "investigate and charge him".

For me this man is a second Hitler Charlotte Knobloch

Denial of the Nazi extermination of Jews in World War II is a serious offence in Germany, punishable by up to five years in prison.

Mr Ahmadinejad has described the Holocaust as a "myth" and said Israel should be "wiped off the map".

The far-right National Democratic Party (NPD) has plans to hold a march in Leipzig during the World Cup, to show solidarity with him.

Iran opens its World Cup campaign with a match against Mexico on Sunday in Nuremberg.

Several groups plan to participate in a demonstration against Mr Ahmadinejad on Sunday, including the Israeli cultural organisation and exiled Iranian dissident groups.

Bavaria's Interior Minister Guenther Beckstein plans to join the demonstration.

"If he were to come, we, as Germans, must make it very clear that he is not wanted here," Mr Beckstein said.

He said it "would be for the best if Iran's president were not to come".

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Nuremberg's Easycredit Stadion will look different for World Cup kick-off

Football fans and corporation-watchers attending the World Cup in Germany this summer may notice a plethora of match arenas all bearing the same rather mundane name.

Out of the 12 stadiums, no less than seven have been retitled the "Fifa WM Stadion" - a result of Fifa stripping the grounds of their usual sponsor names before the tournament kicks off on 9 June.

Munich, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Hannover, Cologne, Gelsenkirchen, and Dortmund, have all had their sponsor names removed, as Fifa sets about creating a "clean" environment for its 15 official partners' wares.

To achieve this, the names of firms which are not among the official Fifa sponsors are being removed.

In Munich and Hamburg, this has meant that the huge sponsor names on the outside of the stadiums - Allianz and AOL respectively - have had to be removed by crane.

In Nuremberg, too, the stadium has also been stripped of its sponsor name, although on this occasion it is being allowed to revert to its previous title - The Frankenstadion - rather than the identikit Fifa labelling.

Nonetheless, the venue will still have to lose any reference to its backer - in this case Easycredit.

Local sponsor

Earlier this year regional bank Norisbank paid between 8 and 10 million euros over 10 years to have its credit card brand plastered over the 46,000 capacity Nuremberg stadium.

Now, however, all the livery, signage and flags have be removed until after the World Cup.

Instead, the Frankenstadion name has been revived, named after the local Franconia region.

"No-one was prepared to pay as much to sponsor the local football club's stadium as Norisbank, which is a regional bank behind the Easycredit product," says Andreas Franke, a journalist at the Nuernberger Nachrichten newspaper.

Workmen remove the AOL sign letters from the Hamburg stadium

"Local people would have been happier to have our stadium called the Norisbank Stadion, but they insisted on Easycredit.

"So I do not think people are too worried about reverting to our traditional name of the Frankenstadion for the duration of the World Cup."

Each stadium, surrounded by a fence around its "outer security perimeter," has been handed over to Fifa in "neutral" condition, with all signs of advertising and sponsorship removed.

This is reported to have cost Hamburg club HSV 500,000 euros - the reputed settlement to its sponsor, AOL, for removing all references to the internet firm from the stadium.

Partner payments

Aside from Nuremberg, only a few stadiums were able to convince Fifa that a proper or regional name was non-threatening.

Fifa signs are spreading round the stadiums ahead of the big kick-off

In Stuttgart - the home of the Daimler-Benz automotive group - the Gottlieb Daimler Stadium has kept its name, along with the Fritz Walter Stadion in Kaiserslautern, Centralstadion in Leipzig, and Olympiastadion in Berlin.

But some of the biggest arguments between Fifa and the host cities have been about commercial rights in the areas surrounding the stadiums and at official big-screen match broadcasts.

At issue are the advertising opportunities for the official Fifa sponsors.

Each of the 15 sponsors, including such names as Adidas, Coca-Cola and Yahoo, is spending about 40m euros for the right to bear the title of "Official Partner" of the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

There are also six "National Sponsors", such as Deutsche Bahn and EnBW energy group, who have paid 13m euros each for the exclusive local rights.

They are the sole sponsors within their respective product categories and can use logos and trademarks, such as the World Cup in their advertising.

Tight control

Fifa is therefore keen not to foul up deals which are poised to reel in revenues of about 700m euros by letting any rogue products or signage within the sealed-off stadium zones.

The global federation has in effect paid for the temporary rights of ownership to the stadium premises during the four weeks of the tournament, giving it the final say about what goes on during the World Cup.

Fifa has kept its eyes on fan festivals too

Gregor Lentze, Fifa's marketing director for the World Cup, says: "We sell our official partners exclusivity and that's what we have to guarantee."

But he admits that Fifa's demands were "a culture shock" for many cities.

The world organising body has also been in talks with local authorities, trying to get their support in cracking down on sales of "non-official" products on the access routes to stadiums.

And it has also tried to ensure it has tight control over the 12 official fan festivals in the host cities, including in Nuremberg.

Fifa even monitors the type of logos that can be displayed at the fan festivals, with prominence given to the signage and products of its official 15 partners.


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Arrivals at German borders can expect tougher checks than usual

"Germany is looking forward to its guests!" proclaims the German government in its strategic report ahead of the World Cup.

But, it is probably fair to say, with some trepidation.

The interior ministry is expecting 3.2 million World Cup visitors. But from the 11 participating countries from where a visa is required in Germany, only 45,000 people had applied by the start of June.

Considering each country is allowed 30,000 tickets for the group games, the foreign ministry is expecting a last-minute rush.

The keenest (or, perhaps, best organised) fans appear to be from Ukraine. Fewest applications have come from Togo.

One of the toughest challenges for the authorities is to strike a balance between extending a warm welcome to visitors, while at the same time keeping out those they really do not want in Germany.

Those undesirables come in various guises, from terrorists to football hooligans, from human traffickers to the thousands of women it is feared they may try and smuggle in for prostitution.

Even with Iran we've had negotiations on security Foreign ministry source World Cup progress report, May 2006 (3.9MB)

Germany's borders - at 3,757km among the longest in Europe - represent one of the best opportunities for it to prevent any serious disruption of its showpiece event.

That is why Germany is ready to suspend the free travel arrangements it has with certain neighbours under the Schengen agreement. Passport checks may be reimposed on the frontiers with Denmark, Austria, France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

Anti-terror measures

The biggest nightmare for tournament organisers is some kind of terrorist attack.

"It would be a fallacy to believe that Germany is not included in the targets of Islamic terrorism," says Heinz Fromm, chief of Germany's counter-terrorism agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution.

Keeping a close eye on Germany's borders, and talking to immigration services across Europe, will be one arm of the counter-terrorist strategy.

German security agencies are also in close communications with secret services in other countries.

"Even with Iran we've had negotiations on security. They fear some groups may plan something against their team," says a German foreign ministry source.

Air-exclusion zones patrolled by Nato Awacs early-warning aircraft will provide another layer of defence.

Border battle

However a more likely threat of disruption is thought to come from hooligans.

Tight policing in England and the Netherlands is thought likely to prevent most potential offenders from these countries even making it to Germany. But the threat of hooliganism from Central and Eastern Europe is more of an unknown quantity.

There are fears many women will be forced into prostitution

Experts say Polish hooligans may be planning to travel in large numbers.

Last November more than 80 people were arrested after a pre-arranged battle between Polish and German hooligans in a forest on the German side of the border.

However, the German authorities are cautious about building up the threat from the east.

"I don't want to dramatise it. We are in close contact with the Polish authorities and there is a strong tradition of co-operation between German and Polish police," insists deputy interior minister August Hanning.

Checks on brothels

A different challenge is presented by the sex trade. With the arrival of millions of mostly male visitors, there is expected to be a huge increase in demand for prostitution, which is legal in Germany.

Human rights groups have expressed fears that between 30,000 and 60,000 women may be smuggled to Germany and forced into prostitution.

The interior ministry says it takes the matter seriously and will be running awareness campaigns, but believes those figures are much too high.

"It is hard to organise prostitution for four weeks. You need years to plan and build an operation," a ministry source said.

He said no special measures were being planned at German borders - that immigration staff would rely on the same tactics normally used to counter illegal entry - but that widespread checks on brothels and prostitutes were already under way and could be expected to continue.

Asylum claims

Another possibility the authorities are well aware of is that some people will try to use the World Cup as cover to enter the country, and then stay illegally.

A foreign ministry source says they have already uncovered a visa scam in one participating African country, whereby potential migrants were advised to throw away their passports on arrival and claim asylum.

German police have been rehearsing for hooligan riots

Germany has made a great deal of welcoming fans who want to join in the party atmosphere, even if they do not have World Cup match tickets. That makes things tricky for immigration services.

"We will always have applicants, especially from poor countries, who will want to come to Germany and stay for economic reasons," says a foreign ministry spokesman.

"The scale of the problem is bigger now, with many coming and claiming to visit the World Cup," he adds.

But he insists it is an issue they are well used to, and the procedure is the same as usual. Visa applicants must prove, in an interview, that they are on a short-term visit, have the funds to travel, and are going to return home.

Visitors from some countries, including Mexico, Costa Rica and Paraguay, do not require visas.

But they may be asked similar questions on arrival. "If they can't prove they can pay, they may be turned back," says the spokesman.

The various challenges faced by the authorities during the World Cup mean that many will be glad when it is over.

Michael Endler, head of Germany's office for sports information, is one who cannot wait.

"I am going to sit in my garden, light up a big cigar, pour myself a stiff cognac and read a book that has absolutely nothing to do with football," he said.

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Many children grow up playing football on the street

When Togo played Saudi Arabia in a World Cup warm-up in Sittard, Holland, only a few hundred people turned up to watch.

But what they lacked in numbers, Togo's supporters, grouped behind a goal, made up for with their noise.

The drums beat out a constant rhythm, flags were waved, and the songs exuberant.

A Togolese woman in traditional dress waved a national flag: "I feel so good about this day," she laughed.

"You know, if you say you come from Togo, people don't know where Togo is. It is such a small country. Maybe now, with the World Cup, they will know about Togo."

Anticipation

Eric Akoto, a tall defender who plays his club football in Austria, can hardly wait for Togo's first appearance at the tournament.

The whole of the Togolese people is united behind Les Eperviers. It's something very impressive and very positive. I think football is bringing unity in this country Prime Minister Edem Kodjo

"We appreciate a lot that we're going to the World Cup. Everyone's happy in Togo. I think they all pray for us, that we're going to make a surprise in the World Cup."

In Lome, Togo's capital, one of the first things you notice is that football is everywhere.

On back streets flooded by the wet season's downpours, young boys chase a ball. On waste ground, teenagers splash around in the rainwater. On the long expanse of sand beside the Atlantic Ocean, clubs hold their training sessions.

The yellow shirts of Les Eperviers, the Hawks, as they are known here, are on sale on market stalls. The name of Emmanuel Adebayor, Arsenal's striker and Togo's star striker, is emblazoned on the back of most.

In this French-speaking country of five million, wedged between Ghana and Benin, the surprise of reaching the World Cup finals for the first time has given way to sheer, undiluted excitement at the prospect of taking on South Korea, Switzerland, and, best of all, France in Group G.

On a busy main street, one fan in a football shirt put it like this: "The World Cup to me is like a big celebration. For the first time Togo has qualified and that is great, it's something we should rejoice about."

When Togo qualified last October, its people did rejoice. The team made it ahead of Senegal, impressive performers at the last World Cup. Ecstatic crowds spilled on to Lome's streets to celebrate. Nervous authorities switched off the electricity.

Difficulties

Since then, the preparations for Togo's World Cup debut have been difficult.

HAVE YOUR SAY The World Cup is the best sporting festival. It's fascinating to see all the different teams Bruce Castle, London Send us your views and pics

A dismal showing at the African Cup of Nations led to the sacking of the coach, Stephen Keshi, amid stories of rifts within the camp. Otto Pfister, a German veteran who has coached across Africa, was brought in.

Once the region's commercial hub, Lome's economy has floundered in recent years, and the city has seen better days.

Recent times have also seen political discord. Last year its President, Gnassingbe Eyadema, Africa's longest-serving ruler, died after 38 years in power.

His son, Faure Gnassingbe, took over. The new president's brother, Rock, runs Togo's football federation. There was a disputed election, and riots and bloodshed on Lome's streets. Bitter political divisions remain.

Some clubs hold training sessions on the beach

The Prime Minister, Edem Kodjo, told me: "The whole of the Togolese people is united behind Les Eperviers. It's something very impressive and very positive. I think football is bringing unity in this country."

One opposition leader, while wholeheartedly supporting the team, told me he disagreed.

The cost of buying tickets and getting to Germany means the trip is far beyond the reach of most Togolese fans.

That won't lessen the fervour of the supporters here. They will gather in the sort of place where I watched the Champions League final.

It was a small, sweltering room on a main street, which was crammed with around 200 fans. The noise was deafening, the mood good-humoured, as some cheered for Arsenal, the club of Adebayor, others for Barcelona.

Once the dust settles on Germany 2006, once the TVs have been switched off and the kickabouts have resumed in the back streets, will it all have made any difference to Togo - its people, and the country's profile?

Opportunity

Klaus Gunther Grohmann is the German Ambassador in Lome, and a keen football fan.

He said: "I think this is a unique opportunity for this country to present itself. Togo is a small country. I think this gives the chance to present Togolese culture, Togolese politics, even the possibility of investment in this country."

Togo are outsiders, a small West African state which many global World Cup viewers will have difficulty placing on a map.

Otto Pfister is aware of the challenges ahead, but he also knows that a football-mad country is watching, full of hope and expectation.

"It is like a religion," he told me after training. "Everybody is behind the team, from grandfather to baby. When Togo plays a game, no-one is in the street."

James Helm's full report on Togo's World Cup odyssey can be heard in full on Assignment on BBC World Service Radio on Thursday 8 June and on Saturday 10 June.

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German and Polish authorities have held joint anti-hooligan exercises

Thousands of police, surveillance aircraft, and soldiers trained in anti-chemical warfare are all on duty in Germany this month, making sure the World Cup is remembered only as a sporting spectacle.

In the long run-up to the competition, security has been a big issue. Terrorism, hooligans, and neo-Nazis have all been identified as possible threats.

"Although we have no particular signals about possible threats to the World Cup, we want to do everything humanly possible to safeguard the matches," Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said recently.

Mr Schaeuble has identified terrorism as the biggest threat to Germany generally, and other security officials have said the World Cup makes the country a good target for an attack.

"There's hardly a better target than the World Cup," said Bavarian Interior Minister Guenther Beckstein recently. "Some matches are watched by billions of people around the world."

During the World Cup, everyone can feel safe wherever he goes in Germany. There must be no 'no-go areas' Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble

For this reason, Germany will have Awacs (Airborne Warning and Control System) planes controlling the skies.

Civilian planes will be forbidden from entering a 5.4 kilometre exclusion zone around football stadiums during matches - to prevent a 9/11-style attack.

There has been a tortured debate about the use of the army during the World Cup, and around 2,000 troops will be on stand-by to reinforce the police if needed. This includes units trained and equipped to deal with chemical attacks.

Robots will be used to check stadiums for bombs before matches.

Meanwhile, memories of the 1972 Munich Olympics, when 11 Israeli athletes were killed in a gun battle after being taken hostage by the Palestinian "Black September" group, have been refreshed by the recent Steven Spielberg film Munich.

Big screen crowds

So the German authorities have earmarked some teams for especially tight security - including England, the United States, and Iran.

Stadium security will be a high priority

Germany has also announced it will lift the provisions of the Schengen agreement, and re-impose checks at its borders, for the duration of the tournament.

This is also a measure against hooliganism, another major threat. The German authorities have identified England's opening match against Paraguay, on Saturday June 10th, as a possible problem.

It is estimated that 100,000 England fans, many using cheap flights to come over for the day, will be in the city - but only 10,000 will have tickets, while most will watch the game on big screens.

And security officials are worried that if there is violence it will not be in the stadiums, but at these "public viewing areas".

"For the first time we'll have large public viewing areas pretty much in every bigger city in Germany," says Christian Sachs, spokesman for the Interior Ministry's World Cup security taskforce.

"In Berlin for example we'll have two or three, with a capacity of maybe 20,000 people each, where you'll be able to watch the matches on large screens - and that of course is a totally new security situation because you can't really check each individual coming into that area."

Far right threat

Another possible flashpoint is the Germany versus Poland match in Dortmund on 14 June.

On Polish hooligan chat sites, the game - plus a possible encounter with England after the group stage - has been identified as a chance for a fight.

There is a traditional rivalry between the fans, fuelled by history, and the German media have reported widely on a growing hooligan problem in Poland.

Polish and German hooligans even staged a pitched battle in a forest near Berlin in November last year, to gear up for the World Cup.

Not Germany's desired image: a recent far-right rally in Rostock

The Iran versus Angola fixture in Leipzig on 21 June has also been picked out as a potential problem - but not for hooligans. The far-right NPD (National Democratic Party) has plans to hold a march in the city, in solidarity with the Iranians.

The party identifies with comments made by the Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, casting doubt on the Holocaust and calling for Israel to be wiped off the map.

The far-right is the latest threat to emerge to the World Cup, with warnings that it is planning to use the tournament for propaganda purposes.

The head of the police union, Konrad Freiburg, has called on the courts to ban NPD rallies during the competition - saying failure to do so would leave the police overstretched.

"The consequences would be violence and injuries," he says.

"But there would also be terrible pictures seen all over the world - in which 200 mad neo-Nazis are being protected by a ring of 1,000 policemen from a counter-demonstration. This would be shameful. It's not the image of Germany we want to present."

'Get out alive'

The debate comes against a background of rising neo-Nazi violence, with official figures showing a 23% increase in violent attacks in 2005.

"There are small and medium-sized towns in Brandenburg and elsewhere which I would advise a visitor of another skin colour to avoid," said Uwe-Karsten Heye, a former government spokesman, recently.

"It is possible he wouldn't get out alive."

Mr Heye was forced to retract his comments after a storm of complaints from other politicians, who said he they were "unhelpful" at a time when Germany was trying to make foreign guests feel welcome.

Social Democrat MP Sebastian Edathy, the son of an Indian immigrant, was one of the few politicians to support Mr Heye.

"I found it really surprising, since we've had this problem for years and now someone in a very strong way addressed that topic, that everybody says 'how can you say that?'

"I mean the scandal is not talking about the problem - the scandal would be if you couldn't speak the truth because it is unpleasant."

The statistics do also show that racial violence is far more common in the former communist East Germany, where hardly any of the games will be played.

Leipzig is the only eastern city hosting matches, although there will also be several in (former west) Berlin.

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