The international friendly between Germany and the Netherlands has been canceled after the stadium in Hanover was evacuated on Tuesday.
Hanover police told media that there were “concrete plans” to cause an explosion at the stadium.
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German chancellor Angela Merkel was set to attend the match.
Germany’s top security official says providing details about the threats that led him to cancel a soccer match in Hannover could unsettle Germans and make future such decisions harder.
Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere declined to answer questions about the exact nature of the threat and the source of the information during a news conference after the Germany-Netherlands match was canceled.
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.
Belgium’s friendly with Spain was canceled on Tuesday, while Germany and France of course saw their match abandoned during last week’s heinous attacks on Paris. Germany had a bomb scare at its hotel before the match.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
