Germany’s foreign ministry today said it had granted a visa for an Iranian vice president, Mohammed Aliabadi, to attend the soccer World Cup, which starts on Friday.

Germany expects as many as 1.5 million guests at this summer’s World Cup finals, an official said today, as organisers stepped up efforts to polish their welcome with a national “friendliness campaign.”

Germany coach Rudi Voller has been dealt a hammer blow after Sebastian Deisler was ruled out of the World Cup finals.