The 2006 World Cup football finals in Germany will begin with a separate opening ceremony for the first time that will be aimed at linking culture with soccer and could precede future tournaments, FIFA said on Thursday.

Sepp Blatter, president of world soccer's governing body, said FIFA would pay for the ceremony, scheduled one day before the tournament begins. It was first conceived in a late-night brainstorming meeting with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

"It's going to be a gigantic celebration of football and not just a sideshow," Blatter told a news conference. "I promise it will be something special that will embellish our event."

The idea was conceived three years ago when Blatter, Schroeder, organising committee president Franz Beckenbauer and others met Austrian artist Andre Heller at Lake Garda in Italy to discuss cultural programmes to run parallel to the tournament.

"I can't remember exactly whose idea it was but we were all discussing ways to elevate the social and cultural components at the World Cup," said German Interior Minister Otto Schily, who was also at the meeting. "It was felt it would be terribly wrong to see the World Cup only as a business enterprise."

The German government was originally planning to put together the opening ceremony on its own at a cost of about 22 million euros ($27.06 million) but on Thursday FIFA said it would take over the costs and sponsorship of the event.

LOVE AFFAIR

Blatter said he did not think soccer purists would object to a separate opening ceremony in Berlin's Olympic Stadium on June 8, 2006 one day before the opening match in Munich.

"Football fans want to see matches," Blatter said. "They don't want speeches, they want a few songs and they want to see football.

"We thought long and hard about it and this wasn't a snap decision," he added.

"Football and culture belong together, that fits into FIFA's philosophy. It began as a little flirt and now it's turned into a love affair. It's going to be a great football party and players will naturally be invited."

Blatter added that the television broadcasting rights for the opening ceremony were not part of previous agreements and would be the subject of negotiations.

There were only sketchy outlines of the cultural opening ceremony but Heller said key figures involved in planning the opening ceremony for the 2000 Olympics would be involved.

Heller, who said for most of his life he had no interest in football but was rapidly becoming fascinated, said the ceremony would include three basic elements: one showcasing Germany, another on FIFA and past tournaments, and one on world culture.

"It's good to have every ally we can," said Beckenbauer, head of Germany's organising committee. "There's nothing incongruous about combining football and culture. I'm quite curious myself how it's going to work. I'm sure it will succeed."