At a football tournament in Frankfurt/Main, a 15-year-old from Berlin was attacked several times by an opponent. The youth died three days later. There is now new information about the crime.
- Life-sustaining measures discontinued for a 15-year-old Berliner
- 16-year-old opponent is said to have attacked him twice
- The prosecutor adapts the charges to the new situation
- Berlin Football Association mourns
Three days after a young man suffered a life-threatening injury in a brawl at a youth football tournament in Frankfurt am Main, the 15-year-old succumbed to his severe brain injuries on Wednesday. In the coming days, an autopsy should clarify the exact cause of death, said the Frankfurt police. How the brawl came about and how it ended is still being determined.
The teenager was declared brain dead on Tuesday. According to the public prosecutor’s office, the machines that then took care of him initially remained switched on for the removal of donor organs. In the course of Wednesday, however, these were turned off.
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The alleged perpetrator attacked the victim twice
According to the Frankfurt police, there was a dispute between players from a French team and a Berlin team at the international “Germany Cup” on Sunday. “According to current knowledge, it happened around 4:10 p.m […] into a player riot that escalated into a brawl between the players,” it said.
The “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” reported on Wednesday, citing the district court, about new findings on the course of the crime. Accordingly, the 16-year-old from France is said to have initially attacked another opponent and hit him in the face with both fists. He then put the 15-year-old in a headlock and hit him in the stomach. He was initially able to free himself and walk away. The accused ran after him and hit him hard on the head from behind. When the teenager collapsed, he left. The public prosecutor’s office confirmed the process.
Police say the victim fell to the ground and had to be revived. “Life-threatening brain injuries” were then found in the hospital.
accusation of Mayhem with fatal outcome
The alleged perpetrator had been arrested for the time being and was taken into custody on Monday, the police said.
After the doctors confirmed that the 15-year-old was brain dead, the accusation changed. “The arrest warrant has so far assumed dangerous and serious bodily harm,” said the spokeswoman for the Frankfurt public prosecutor’s office, Nadja Niesen, on Wednesday of the German Press Agency (DPA). “Since the injured party is now brain dead, it will now be about the allegation of bodily harm resulting in death.”
The Frankfurt club SV Viktoria Preußen 07 organized the “Germany Cup”, an international youth tournament, over Pentecost. Teams from the U9, U10, U11 and U17 divisions competed there.
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Berlin Football Association expresses sympathy
As the Berlin Football Association (BFV) confirmed on Tuesday evening, the Berlin club is JFC Berlin. The 1st chairman Daniel Springer informed rbb that the association “out of respect for the family and since this is an open process, […] unable to provide any information at this time”.
Bernd Schultz, President of the Berlin Football Association, said: “In these difficult hours, our thoughts and sympathy go out to all the relatives and team members of the player concerned. We have been in close contact with JFC Berlin since Sunday to support the club and its players To support members wherever possible.”
In the 2021/22 season, the Berlin Football Association noted a total of 1,936 events that concerned sports jurisdiction or were noted in game reports. Physical and verbal offenses are roughly balanced. Of particular concern, however, is that 43.5 percent of the cases were registered in youth football.
Broadcast: Radioeins, May 31, 2023, 3:00 p.m
