Dilemma over Iran, World Cup, Germany

BERLIN, May 4 (UPI) -- German politicians are divided on policy that could darken next month's World Cup soccer play if anti-Semitic Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad shows up.

The soccer-loving Iranian president -- who has called for Israel's destruction -- appears keen to attend Iran's first match in Nuremberg, where Adolph Hitler first staged his mass rallies.

Ahmadinejad has repeatedly denied the Holocaust occurred, and the premier of Bavaria, Edmund Stoiber, has appealed for the national government to bar him, The Times of London reported.

"Such a man is not welcome," Stoiber said.

However, Interior Minister Wolfgang Schauble said the Iranian leader "can naturally come to the matches."

Iranian expatriate Hassan Nayeb-Agha, who played as a midfielder for Iran in the 1978 World Cup, deplored Germany's stance.

"We must not let the Iranian regime misuse the World Cup in the same way that Hitler did with the 1936 Olympic Games," he said.