It was supposed to be a football festival, enriching, open to the world and meetings, but a football tournament in Frankfurt, welcoming youth teams from 16 different countries, mostly European, turned into a nightmare. A fight between several players broke out on the field.
In the melee, a young Berliner died. The alleged perpetrator, a Moroccan teenager who played as part of his training at the French club Metz, is on trial this Thursday in Frankfurt, Germany.
Closed trial
The fight took place after a match between the team of the accused and that of the 15-year-old player, Paul, who died a few days later of his injuries, JFC Berlin. Given the age of the accused (he was 16 at the time of the facts on May 28 and is now 17), the trial is being held behind closed doors.
“The indictment was read this morning. The player did not speak,” said the spokesperson for the Frankfurt court, specifying that an Arabic language interpreter was present. “Witnesses from Berlin are to be heard this afternoon,” he added. He was indicted in mid-December for assault and battery in two cases, one of which resulted in a death.
Died “as a result of his serious brain injuries”
The accused was then playing within the FC Metz Performance Program, a structure integrated into the Lorraine club and which allows “young footballers or educators from all over the world to have access to a high-level training structure”. The French club FC Metz said it was “deeply shocked by this tragedy”.
The young Berliner who died “as a result of his serious brain injuries”, according to the police, had been kept on artificial life for a few days so that he could donate his organs. His parents, who became civil parties, were not present at the trial this Thursday but were represented by a Berlin lawyer. The defendant, who is in pre-trial detention, risks a prison sentence of between 6 months and 10 years, according to the spokesperson. The verdict is currently scheduled for March 4.