After a fight at a football tournament in Frankfurt, the injured youth was declared brain dead. A 16-year-old suspect was taken into custody. The Hessian Football Association reacted “shocked”.
In a brawl during a football tournament in Frankfurt on Sunday, a 15-year-old player suffered life-threatening injuries from being hit. As the police announced on Tuesday evening, the victim from Berlin was declared brain dead.
A 16-year-old tournament participant from France is therefore considered to be an urgent suspect. He is in custody. First had the Frankfurter Rundschau reported about it.
FC Metz: Player denies intentional injury
The French club FC Metz announced on Tuesday that they had learned “with disbelief” about the “drama” that had happened in Frankfurt. “A young player from the FC Metz performance program is currently being interrogated by the German authorities and denies intentionally causing physical harm to the young injured player,” it said in French on the club’s website.
The club, players and parents are available to the German authorities for further investigations. The club had also expressed its condolences to the critically injured player and his family.
rbb24 quotes Bernd Schultz, President of the Berlin Football Association: “Our thoughts and sympathy go out to all the relatives and team members of the player affected at this difficult time.” One has been in close contact with the Berlin association since Sunday in order to support it and its members wherever possible.
Association “stunned” and “shocked”
The Hessian Football Association was also “stunned” and “shocked that a young person was fighting for his life through violence on a Hessian football pitch”.
“Our thoughts are with the boy’s family,” said Vice President Silke Sinning. The association condemns any form of violence and is working together with the Fair Play Hessen platform to curb violent incidents at football games, the statement said.
Beating after the final whistle
The tournament took place on the sports field of the Viktoria Prussia club in the district of Eckenheim. According to the police, after the final whistle of a game, players from a Berlin and a French youth team clashed. The suspect hit the 15-year-old on the head and neck.
The boy then collapsed and had to be revived. He was then taken to a hospital, where the brain injuries were found.
