AFP - Iran coach Branko Ivankovic said he had
no message from the country's controversial president and told journalists
to stop asking him about politics.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's outspoken views on the Holocaust have come
into sharp focus ahead of Iran's opening match in the former Nazi stronghold
of Nuremberg.
"The president of Iran is a football fan and of course he is interested in
what their team will do during the World Cup, just as many presidents. I
don't have any special message from him," Ivankovic told a press conference.
"These political questions are not for me. I think it's not for me and it's
not for people here. Please just ask about my team against Mexico," he
added.
Jewish groups have called for protests against Iran's Vice President
Mohammad Aliabadi, who will attend the game just a stone's throw from where
Hitler staged his infamous rallies.
Far-right activists are also planning to demonstrate in support of Iran
during their matches here.
President Ahmadinejad has been widely condemned for describing the Holocaust
as a "myth" and calling for Israel to be "wiped off the map".
Earlier, a group of European Union politicians had called for Iran to be
kicked out of the World Cup altogether over its government's nuclear
programme.
