German justice on Thursday sentenced a Moroccan teenager to two years in prison for having beaten to death a young Berliner during a football tournament, where he played for the French club Metz.
The 17-year-old young man, who was 16 at the time of the events on May 28, spent nine months in pre-trial detention in a juvenile facility in Germany.
The prosecution had requested a prison sentence of two years and three months.
Due to the young age of the accused, the trial was held behind closed doors.
“He is now free and can go to any country he wants.
But he must inform the Frankfurt court every month of what he is doing, court spokesperson Daniel Trosch told AFP.
He admitted the facts and said he regretted them”
A fight between several players occurred on the football field, during a tournament in Frankfurt hosting youth teams from 16 different countries, most of them European.
It took place after a match between the team of the young accused and that of the 15-year-old player, Paul, who died a few days later from his injuries, JFC Berlin.
According to a statement from the Frankfurt public prosecutor's office dating from June, the FC Metz player began to box another Berliner in the face before attacking him first with a strangulation key and blows to the abdomen.
Also read: What we know about the death of a young player in Germany after a fight with an opponent from FC Metz
The young Moroccan then played within the FC Metz Performance Program, a structure integrated into the French club and which allows “young footballers or educators from all over the world to access a high-level training structure”.
The club, which plays in Ligue 1, 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.