Berlin, July 8:

The World Cup organisers said they were confident the final between France and Italy would go ahead in the Olympic Stadium here on Sunday despite storms in the German capital on Friday.

There is the possibility of rain and possibly a thunderstorm during the course of the afternoon but it should be calmer by the time the final kicks off at 8:00 pm (1800 GMT), organising committee spokesman Gerd Graus said.

The temperature is forecast to be at around 25 degrees Celsius. “The match will be played tomorrow, we have no qualms about that,” Graus told a media briefing on Saturday.

The pitch at the stadium had not been covered, he added. “There was a lot of rain, but the pitch is in the condition to absorb it. There is no reason to cover it. In these kind of temperatures, covering the grass would actually have harmed it.”

FIFA spokesman Markus Siegler said that in the event of a major storm during the match which put the safety of players and spectators at risk, the organisers would decide whether to delay the kickoff until later in the evening, or even until Monday. “In the worst case scenario it could be delayed until Monday.”

The German capital was hit by a major thunderstorm on Friday evening after days of uncustomary hot weather and the heavy rain continued into Saturday morning.

The stormy weather forced the cancellation of a gala concert in Berlin on Friday to tie in with South Africa’s hosting of the 2010 World Cup.