Soccer fanatics from the 32 entrants to the World Cup finals will soon know the countries who their team will be competing against as of June 9, 2006. But a series of recent problems, some beyond the control of the organizing committee (OK), are taking a little of the shine off spotless image that Germany wants to present to the world.

"We have problems, that's right. There are still questions that must be clarified," OK president Franz Beckenbauer said in the run up to the World Cup draw in Leipzig on Friday. The problems are threefold: structural problems at stadiums, the ticket sales process and security questions.

Beckenbauer, however, feels that mountains are being made out of mole hills as the tournament nears.

Hooliganism a constant European hazard

The fact that the World Cup is back on European soil unavoidably raises the spectre of hooliganism which thrives on the continent and England. At the 1998 World Cup in France, a French policemen was almost beaten to death by German hooligans and English fans ran wild in Marseille. The last major soccer tournament to be played in Germany, the 1988 European Championship, brought together a dangerous mix of English, Dutch and German supporters.

"Once we know where England and the Netherlands will be, we will come up with concrete plans on security," World Cup OK vice-president Horst R. Schmidt told a news conference.

A series of recent incidents in the Bundesliga, including Hamburg player Alexander Laas being hit by a drumstick during a match in Cologne, drew criticism from FIFA president Sepp Blatter. Safety nets are now to be erected behind the goals at all the stadiums.

Ticket sales criticism not receding

Once the groups are set after Friday's draw, the 32 participating national soccer federations will then begin sales of their ticket allocation. At the moment, a minimum of eight percent of the tickets will be given to the national associations for each match. Schmidt said that it was the goal of the organizing committee to bump up that percentage.

250,000 tickets are up for grabs as of December 12.

One of the major points of criticism by fans and consumer groups was the printing of names on tickets to prevent the omnipresent ticket-scalping market that appears at the World Cup. Schmidt said the OK would not abandon this plan despite Blatter questioning the practice, saying at the same time the German organizers were complicating the scheme by trying to be too perfect.

"It's a huge task but we want to meet our aims," Schmidt told journalists. "We agreed to this with the security experts and we will go through with it, even if it is labor intensive."

Stadiums posing difficulties

When Germany won the bid to host the World Cup less than five years ago, a massive effort was made to build new and refurbish older arenas. At a few stadiums however, structural problems have developed that have led to game cancellations or less than optimal playing conditions.

Just last week, a match between Kaiserslautern and Frankfurt was postponed due to cracks in the roof at Fritz Walter­ Stadium, a facility that had undergone thorough upgrades for the World Cup. Frankfurt got a new stadium with a modern retractable roof that has stuck at times and then funnels plumes of water onto the pitch when it rains. It happened once in a match against Schalke, making the field almost unplayable.

"This (the stadium problems) is trivial," Beckenbauer said. "It's being played up because people are getting very excited."