Ahmadinejad should attend World Cup: Iran coach

BERLIN: Iran coach Branko Ivankovic said that hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad should attend the football World Cup despite fervent calls here for him to stay home.   

"Our president is a great football fan," trainer Ivankovic, a Croatian national, told German newspaper Sport Bild in an interview.   

"That is why he should -- just like all the other heads of government and state -- have the right to experience the matches. I think you have to separate sport and politics," he added.   

German officials from across the political spectrum have demanded that Ahmadinejad steer clear of the football extravaganza because of his repeated denial of the Holocaust and calls for the destruction of Israel.   

Ahmadinejad has not ruled out coming to Germany but has in the meantime only dispatched Vice President Mohammad Aliabadi, who attended Iran's losing match against Mexico on Sunday.