The safety of several of the venues for the forthcoming football World Cup, including the Olympic Stadium in Berlin – which will host the final – has been criticised in a recent report from a German consumer organisation.

Germany's leading consumer safety group, Stiftung Warentest, has produced a report on the 12 stadiums which will be used for the World Cup, which says that eight are 'clearly' unsafe, of which four – Leipzig, Gelsenkirchen, Kaiserslautern and Berlin – were 'substantially' unsafe.

Problems included missing escape routes, steps which are too steep and other access concerns which could pose a danger in the event of fire, panic or crowd disturbances.

Responses from the World Cup organisers have been mixed. More than £680m has been spent on modernising the venues – an investment which most stadium chiefs feel will be more than adequate.

Franz Beckenbauer, a former World Cup winner and national team manager, launched a scathing attack on Stiftung Warentest, saying: "They may know something about facial creams, olive oil and vacuum cleaners – they should stick to that."