A Schalke fan has been charged with attempted murder and two of his alleged accomplices with serious assault after a Manchester City supporter was brutally attacked at the teams' Champions League game in February.
News agency dpa reports Essen district court confirmed receipt of the indictments, which were already presented to the defendants of the accused.
The English football fan received serious head injuries in the attack at Schalke's stadium in Gelsenkirchen on 20 February. He required an emergency operation and was placed in an artificial coma.
The alleged perpetrators were arrested some days later. The main suspect has been in custody since. Based on witness accounts and video footage, state prosecutors accuse the suspect of having planned the attack.
The victim, Paul Worth, 32, from Urmston in Greater Manchester, said that he “nearly died” following the attack after attending the match with his family.
"I don't remember the actual incident,” Mr Worth wrote on his Facebook page.
"I just remember waking up in an ICU unit in Germany and the doctors and nurses were telling me how close I was actually to death.
"I've had staples in the back of my head, my jaw rewired and lost a tooth.
"Now I can walk up and down stairs and make tea and toast as part of my therapy.”
