The 2006 FIFA World Cup is under way in Germany.
The opening ceremony took place at the Allianz Arena in Munich and it was followed by the first game between the hosts and Costa Rica. The Germans won 4-2.
The ceremony featured a parade of more than 170 World Cup-winning players, including Pele, Diego Maradona, Lothar Matthias, Paul Breitner and former Republic of Ireland manager Jack Charlton, who was a winner with England in 1966.
The winners will be crowned after the final in Berlin on 9 July. For further analyses of this year's World Cup see http://www.rte.ie/sport/worldcup/.
Meanwhile, Germany's constitutional court said this afternoon that a far-right party could march through the city of Gelsenkirchen tomorrow, lifting an earlier ban on the event.
The court granted the National Democratic Party (NPD) an emergency ruling.
The city will host several World Cup games, including tonight’s game between Poland and Ecuador.
Yesterday, a state court in North-Rhine Westphalia had banned the event, arguing the that the march would pose an immediate threat to public security.
Germany's government tried unsuccessfully to ban the NPD five years ago and police officials have accused the party of trying to vilify dark-skinned players in a nationwide campaign during the World Cup.
An NPD spokesman said the decision had come as a surprise.
