Reuters - Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
may travel to Germany to watch his national team play at the World Cup in
June, the head of Iran's soccer federation said on Thursday.
Mohammad Ali Dadkan was quoted by Germany's SID sport news agency as telling
journalists that Ahmadinejad was a keen fan.
"A visit to the World Cup is quite possible," said Dadkan, president of the
Iran federation. "Our president loves soccer. He has regular meetings with
the players on the team."
Dadkan spoke while inspecting the Nuremberg stadium, one of 12 World Cup
venues where Iran will play their first match.
Ahmadinejad has been criticised in Germany and around the world for
inflammatory remarks about Israel and questioning whether six million Jews
were killed by the Nazis in the Holocaust.
Iran has also refused demands by Western countries as well as Russia and
China to suspend activities that could be used to make nuclear weapons,
insisting that it has the sovereign right to a full nuclear programme.
Chancellor Angela Merkel has called Ahmadinejad's statements on the
Holocaust unacceptable but has spoken out against banning Iran from the
World Cup, despite such calls from a number of German and Israeli lawmakers.
Holocaust denial is a serious crime punishable with a prison term of up to
five years in Germany.
