GERMAN BRASS READY THEMSELVES

Last updated : 02 July 2002 By Editor

'While FIFA proclaims a tight infrastructure second to none and stadiums costing £1billion, it is the prospect of illicit riches in the 12 chosen venues that make the crime lords drool.

Europe's next major soccer event is the European Championships in Portugal in 2004 but it is small beer compared to the lure of the World Cup. An estimated 10,000 prostitutes will be on the move in Germany, criss-crossing the country to follow the fans and their money.

Already Mob-backed companies are buying up properties in places such as Berlin, Munich, Dortmund and Stuttgart to create lavish brothels to pimp the working girls.

Germany's LKA the equivalent of the FBI in America fears a turf war between the gangsters over the control of everything from drugs to taxis ... long before the whistle blows for the first game.

A spokesman says: "The Russian Mob will fight it out with domestic crooks, the Albanians and everyone else seeking to muscle in on the action. "The World Cup is not a sporting event for them but a money-making opportunity on a massive scale."