German minister confident World Cup events will be secure

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has expressed confidence that security threats to groups of football fans gathering to cheer their teams on will be contained during the World Cup being held in North America this year.

"Overall we are talking about a high abstract threat situation," Dobrindt told Germany's Funke Media Group ahead of the competition being held between June 11 and July 19.

"We are watching very closely what has been unleashed by the war in Iran, as far as individuals and extremist groups are concerned," Dobrindt said. He added that there was at the moment no reason to "switch from an abstract to a specific threat situation."

But he also emphasized that this could change rapidly.

Germany remained secure, he said, "and we will do all we can to ensure that large-scale events - irrespective whether fan parties on the Oktoberfest - remain secure."

The United States, Mexico and Canada are to host most of this year's competition, billed as the largest sporting event in the world. The final will be played at New Jersey's MetLife Stadium with a capacity of 82,000.

Major German cities are reported to be holding back on providing the fanzones seen at recent world cups, where the authorities close off a road and put up large screens, while allowing refreshments to be sold. But there will be live broadcasts put on by commercial providers.