The European Commission has scrapped a visa-toughening plan aimed at preventing forced prostitution during the World Cup in Germany later this year.

Justice commissioner Franco Frattini on Monday (13 March) said he would not propose visa reintroduction for any country and said he apologised if his views had been "misunderstood," reports Reuters news agency.

Female members of the European Parliament had criticised the plan for only being directed towards women and not towards the men buying sex, according to Danish DR online news.

Last week Mr Frattini suggested that visa requirements should be re-introduced for all non-EU citizens travelling to Germany for this summer's football world cup, especially from Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Prostitution is legal in Germany in certain city zones, but with thousands of football fans attending the world cup, German cities face up to a 30 percent increase in the sex trade during the event, NGOs have reported.

In Berlin, within walking distance from the main football arena, a "super brothel" with 70 rooms for 600 daily customers has been built, and in Dortmund and Cologne so-called "performance boxes" - mobile units equipped with snacks and condom vending machines, toilets, alarms and emergency exits - have been installed.

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