Germany–Netherlands soccer match canceled due to information about potential attack

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Lower Saxony's state Interior Minister Boris Pistorius, German Federal Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere and Reinhardt Rauball, acting head of the German soccer federation attend a press conference in Hannover, northern Germany, Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2015 after the international soccer friendly between Germany and the Netherlands was cancelled due to the fear of an extremist attack. (Ole Spata/dpa via AP)
Lower Saxony’s state Interior Minister, German Federal Interior Minister and acting head of the German soccer federation attend a press conference in Hannover, northern Germany, Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2015 after the international soccer friendly between Germany and the Netherlands was cancelled due to the fear of an extremist attack. (Ole Spata/dpa via AP)

Germany’s top security official says the decision to cancel the soccer match between Germany and the Netherlands was made after authorities received mounting information during the course of the day about a possible attack.

Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere told reporters he wouldn’t name the source of the information that led to the match in Hannover being called off shortly before it was to take place. Top government officials, including de Maiziere and Chancellor Angela Merkel, had been scheduled to attend the game as a sign of defiance following the Paris attacks.

Security officials have denied reports that explosives were found outside the stadium where Germany had been due to play against the Netherlands. A second stadium in the city, which was going to hold a concert, was also evacuated.

De Maiziere declined to answer questions about the exact nature of the threat and the source of the information during a news conference.

De Maiziere asked for “trust,” saying “some of these answers would unsettle the population, some of these answers would make our actions in future harder and (…) some of these answers might lead the source of the information not to provide tips to us anymore.”

The German daily Bild reported authorities had received a warning that an attack using explosives and automatic weapons was planned.

Boris Pistorius, the interior minister for Lower-Saxony state, told reporters late Tuesday that there had been no arrests in the case.

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