Security forces will be charged with protecting some 2.7 million fans, 24 team base camps spread across the country and 10 stadiums where 51 matches will be played between June 14 and July 14.

Designated fan zones are also expected to attract about 12 million visitors.

“From the outset, security has been our top priority,” tournament director Philipp Lahm told the AFP news agency.

In an unprecedented move, Germany has invited some 300 security experts from all nations playing in the tournament to take part in a monitoring project at the International Police Cooperation Centre (IPCC) in the western city of Neuss.

Alongside officials from Germany, Europol and European football body UEFA, they will take turns to monitor the situation on the ground, gathering during the tournament in a huge 500-square-metre (5,382-square-foot) conference room equipped with 129 computers and a 40-square-metre (430-square-foot) screen, AFP saw on a visit to the facility.

Police cancel leave

“Each country knows its troublemakers better than any other, and the foreign experts present in Neuss will be able to identify them more quickly,” Oliver Strudthoff, director of the IPCC, told AFP.

“The size of the delegations will depend on the number of fans and how potentially dangerous they are. England, for example, will have many more representatives than Switzerland,” he said.

At the matches themselves, all hands will be on deck – police have been forbidden from taking leave during the tournament.