Youth soccer player is brain dead
What is known about the incident in Frankfurt
05/30/2023, 5:55 p.m
When violence broke out during a youth football tournament, a 15-year-old player from a Berlin team was injured so badly that he had to be kept alive artificially. The victim suffered “severe life-threatening head injuries” from being hit to the head and neck. The alleged perpetrator, a 16-year-old player from a French team, was provisionally arrested and taken into custody on Monday. There were conflicting reports about the young player’s condition throughout the day. In the evening there is sad certainty: He is brain dead. Questions and answers on the case.
What happened?
“According to current knowledge, around 4:10 p.m., after the final whistle of a football game, there was a riot between the players, which escalated into a fight between the players,” the prosecutor’s office and the police reported in a joint statement on Monday. “In the further course of events, a 16-year-old player from the French soccer team is said to have hit a 15-year-old Berlin player in the head and neck. The victim then fell to the ground and subsequently required resuscitation. The alarmed rescue workers immediately brought the youth to a nearby hospital where doctors diagnosed life-threatening brain injuries.” The exact sequence of events is still “the subject of the ongoing investigation,” said a police spokesman.
The police are asking witnesses who can provide information on the facts of the case to contact the criminal police on 069/755-51199 or any other police station. In addition, a Portal set up through which witnesses can upload image and video material and make it available to investigators.
What is the condition of the victim?
In a first report, the “Frankfurter Rundschau” reported, citing the lawyer of the alleged perpetrator and an association official, that the Berliner had been fatally injured in the incident that had already occurred on Sunday at the “Germany Cup”. The police contradicted these reports. The 15-year-old had become “resuscitation required” after the beating. “The alarmed rescue workers immediately took the youth to a nearby hospital,” the police said. “There, the doctors found life-threatening brain injuries.” On Tuesday evening, a police spokesman finally announced that the boy had been declared brain dead.
Which teams were involved in the confrontation?
The game after which the violence broke out was the encounter between the B youth of the Berlin district club JFC Berlin and a selection from the youth academy of the French second division club FC Metz. Both teams faced each other in the semifinals in the race for 5th place. Daniel Springer, 1st chairman of JFC Berlin, told RBB that the club “out of respect for the family and because this is an open process, […] No information given at this time.”
What does “brain dead” mean?
With the diagnosis of brain death, the death of the person is determined with certainty according to neurological criteria. “The irreversible loss of brain function is defined as the state of the irreversibly extinguished overall function of the brain (cerebrum, cerebellum and brainstem). Controlled ventilation and other intensive medical measures are used to artificially maintain cardiovascular function,” says a definition by the “German Foundation for Organ Transplantation “.
What information is there about the alleged perpetrator?
A 16-year-old player from the “Performance Programme” team at FC Metz International Academy, the club’s youth academy, was arrested and brought before a magistrate on Monday. He issued an arrest warrant. According to the Frankfurt police, the player is currently only being investigated for serious bodily harm. Neither the police nor the public prosecutor’s office released any further information about the suspect. As FC Metz wrote in a statement on Tuesday, the youngster denies “that he intentionally caused physical harm to the injured young player”. His client, as he himself explained to him, acted in self-defense and only gave the 15-year-old “a slap in the face,” said the suspect’s lawyer.
FC Metz “as well as all players and parents present are of course available to the German authorities to help the investigation progress,” the club wrote. “The whole of FC Metz is deeply shocked by this tragedy and expresses its sincere support for the young player, his family and loved ones.”
What is the FC Metz “Performance Program”?
“By relying on their sporting quality, their motivation and their ability to work, we want to offer every player a suitable sports and school program that enables them to fully exploit their potential,” says the self-description of the youth program of the promotion candidate in the French premier league. “The FC Metz International Football Academy is more than a training center, it is intended to be a springboard into adult life and to promote the development of footballers, students and individuals.” One of the players who went through the program is the Senegalese Sadio Mané, who first moved from Metz to Red Bull Salzburg, became a world star at Liverpool FC and now plays for FC Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga.
Violence in youth and amateur football: does this happen more often?
In its annual situation report on violence, the German Football Association documented 3,544 acts of violence in German youth and amateur football reported by referees for the 2021/2022 season. It was only in April that a referee in Frankfurt was hit in the face with two punches by a C youth player.
The Hessian Football Association (HFV) was “stunned” and “shocked that a young person is fighting for his life through violence on a Hessian football field,” said HFV Vice President Silke Sinning. “Our thoughts are with the boy’s family.”
What is the Germany Cup?
The Germany Cup is an international tournament series for youth teams for all age groups at twelve locations throughout Germany. The Germany Cup is organized by an agency from Feucht in Franconia. The tournament in Frankfurt was the fourth event this year. Among other things, it took place at the SV Viktoria Preußen facility, where the U17 games were played and where the momentous incident occurred on Sunday, the last day of the three-day tournament. The U17 tournament was not played to the end.
The organizers of the international youth tournament announced on their website that they would exhaust all possibilities to contribute to clarifying the incident. “We are deeply shocked by what has happened. It is incredibly sad. We are devastated. The violence on the football pitch must end. Our thoughts are with the players and the player’s parents.”