Germany ready for World Cup visitors, says interior minister

Supporters of the German national football team wave flags during a friendly football match against Japan in Leverkusen. Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said Germany will use the World Cup to show the world it is a peaceful country where foreign visitors need have no fear of racist attack.

Germany will use the World Cup to show the world it is a peaceful country where foreign visitors need have no fear of racist attack, Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said.

"Germany is open to the world and a country that is peace-loving and tolerant, and we will prove that in the World Cup," Schaeuble told a press conference as he reported on the progress of security arrangements just nine days before the tournament kicks off.

"There is no such thing as 100 percent security, but everything humanely possible has been done.

"We have prepared just as well as we can, just at the teams have," Schaeuble said.

Germany's efforts to present itself in a positive light ahead of the June 9-July 9 tournament received a blow when a former government spokesman warned recently that foreign visitors to eastern Germany ran the risk of racist beatings.

A spate of attacks on African immigrants in recent weeks have fuelled the concerns.

Schaeuble said that every case of a racist attack "was a case too many".

"Germany must show it is a country that is friendly to foreigners," he said.

The government backed an initiative launched by world football's governing body FIFA in which the captains of teams in the quarter-finals of the tournament will read speeches before each match expressing their rejection of racism.

Schaeuble said the contentious decision to print the ticketholder's name on every match ticket had been a success despite complaints from fans that it has made it harder to exchange tickets and could cause delays in processing spectators as they enter stadiums.

"Activity on the black market has been lower than normal," Schaeuble said.