A Berlin youth football player has died after a brawl at an international tournament in Frankfurt. The German police reported this on Wednesday. On Sunday, it came to a fight between different teams, in which the 15-year-old was fatally injured.
The horrific escalation of violence took place on Sunday during the ‘Germany Cup’, which will be played in eight German cities in April, May and June. More than twenty Belgian clubs also participate in the tournament, which is played in different age categories.
On Saturday, things got completely out of hand during the semi-finals in Frankfurt. According to an eyewitness, a Berlin club and a French team faced each other. Berlin was leading 1-0 when the referee called off the match. After the final whistle, disturbances broke out between the players of both teams.
The 15-year-old boy from Berlin received a blow to the head or neck. He collapsed on the soccer field and was resuscitated, but he turned out to be brain dead. Since the brawl, he was kept in an artificial coma for several days so that he could donate his organs, the spokeswoman for the Frankfurt prosecutor’s office said.
An autopsy will be performed in the coming days on the victim, a player with the German team JFC Berlin.
The suspected perpetrator is a member of the French team FC Metz and is himself 16 years old. He is in pre-trial detention while the investigation is ongoing. FC Metz says it is “deeply shocked by this tragedy”.
Teams from sixteen different countries, mainly in Europe, participated in the tournament on Sunday.
Boy (15) beaten brain dead in massive brawl at international youth football tournament in Germany
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