Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Tuesday, Jul 21, 2026

Boris Becker jailed: Tennis champion sentenced over bankruptcy

Boris Becker jailed: Tennis champion sentenced over bankruptcy

Former Wimbledon champion Boris Becker has been jailed for two and a half years for hiding £2.5m worth of assets and loans to avoid paying debts.

Boris Becker arrived at court with his partner Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro

The 54-year-old six-time Grand Slam champion was found guilty of four charges under the Insolvency Act.

The case centred on Becker's bankruptcy in June 2017 resulting from an unpaid loan of more than £3m on his luxury estate in Mallorca, Spain.

Judge Deborah Taylor said he had shown no remorse or acceptance of guilt.

Referring to Becker's previous conviction for tax evasion in Germany in 2002, she told the former world number one: "You did not heed the warning you were given and the chance you were given by the suspended sentence and that is a significant aggravating factor...

"You have... sought to distance yourself from your offending and your bankruptcy.

"While I accept your humiliation as part of the proceedings, there has been no humility."

Boris Becker commentated at Wimbledon for the BBC


Becker was legally obliged to disclose all of his assets so that his trustee could distribute available funds to his creditors, to whom he owed nearly £50m when he was declared bankrupt.

But earlier this month, after about two weeks hearing evidence, Southwark Crown Court jurors found Becker guilty of removal of property, two counts of failing to disclose estate and concealing debt.

They acquitted him on a further 20 charges, including nine counts of failing to hand over his tennis trophies and medals, including two from Wimbledon.

Prosecutor Rebecca Chalkley said the jury had found the Wimbledon commentator had acted "deliberately and dishonestly".

She added: "Even now, Mr Becker is still seeking to blame others when it was obviously his duty."

The jury found Becker had failed to declare his share in a sprawling £1m property in his German hometown of Leimen, and hid a bank loan of almost £700,000 on that house, as well as shares in a technology firm valued at £66,000.

He was also found to have made £390,000 worth of payments from his business account to nine others, including those of his ex-wife Barbara and estranged wife Sharlely "Lilly" Becker.

Becker's barrister Jonathan Laidlaw QC told the court the tennis star's "fall from grace" had left "his reputation in tatters".

He said: "Boris Becker has literally nothing and there is also nothing to show for what was the most glittering of sporting careers and that is correctly termed as nothing short of a tragedy.

"These proceedings have destroyed his career entirely and ruined any further prospect of earning an income."

Becker will serve half his sentence on licence.


Who is Boris Becker?


Boris Becker was the youngest man to win Wimbledon in 1985


Boris Becker was catapulted to stardom, aged 17, in 1985 when he became the youngest singles male player to win the Wimbledon Championships.

He went on to win a further two Wimbledon titles, two Australian Opens and one US Open. He also won a gold medal at the Olympics in doubles.

He retired from tennis in 1999, and has since commentated at Wimbledon for the BBC.

In 2013, Mr Becker turned his hand to coaching, working with one of the world's greatest, Novak Djokovic. In their three years together, Djokovic won six Grand Slam titles.

He was also involved in overseeing youth development and the Davis Cup team at the German Tennis Federation until stepping down in 2020.

The father-of-four has lived in London since 2012.

The German national made about £38m in earnings before retiring in 1999


Becker had told the jury his career earnings of $50m (about £38 million) were spent on an expensive divorce from his first wife in 2001, child maintenance payments, and "expensive lifestyle commitments", including his £22,000-a-month rented house in Wimbledon, south-west London.

The trial also revealed Becker's taste for designer clothes, shopping in Harrods and that he was spending thousands on his children's school fees. He said his income had "reduced dramatically" following his retirement in 1999.

The prosecution against Becker was brought by the Insolvency Service on behalf of the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Kwasi Kwarteng.

Speaking after the sentencing, its chief executive Dean Beale said: "Boris Becker's sentence clearly demonstrates that concealing assets in bankruptcy is a serious offence for which we will prosecute and bring offenders to justice."

BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller said after serving his time, the former world number one would probably rebuild his career by making a return to coaching and TV commentating.

David Law of the Tennis Podcast commented tennis fans would still hold affection for Becker.

He said: "Those memories will last, but at the same time this is hugely embarrassing for him... it's prison time and it will follow him and stay with him."


Watch: Former tennis star Boris Becker discusses his bankruptcy during a 2018 BBC interview


Newsletter

Related Articles

Arab Press
0:00
0:00
Close
High Prices Push Coffee Drinkers Toward Whole Beans and Home Brewing
Trump Draws Boos and Podium Scrutiny at Spain’s World Cup Triumph
Spain Defeats Argentina in Extra Time to Win Second World Cup
Turkey Explores S-400 Transfer to UAE in Bid to Rejoin F-35 Program
US Retaliates Against Iran After Two American Troops Killed in Jordan
Proposed U.S.-Saudi Nuclear Pact Could Permit Limited Uranium Enrichment Under International Safeguards
Why Kentucky Fried Chicken Became KFC—and Why the False Explanations Persist
Iran Claims It Destroyed Bahrain’s Main Artificial Intelligence Center in Missile and Drone Strike
Ukrainian Drones Strike Wildberries Warehouses Deep Inside Russia
Reported CIA Mission Helped Clear the UAE’s Path to Advanced US AI Chips
Artificial Intelligence Capital Fuels Markets While Governments and Regulators Face Mounting Strategic Tests
China’s Moonshot’s Kimi K3 Narrows the Gap With Anthropic Through Scale, Openness and Lower Cost
The Ledger Will Not Trust on Faith
Passenger Bound for Germany Refused to Sit Beside a Woman on a Plane — Then Slapped a Flight Attendant
Ukraine’s Leadership Rift Spills Into the Streets as Protesters Target Army Chief
The Ten World Cup Finals That Defined Football History
Smartphones Are Getting More Expensive, Sales Are Collapsing, and Even Apple Admits: "Prices Will Rise"
Leadership Change and Strategic Rivalry Redraw the Political Map
The AI Race Enters Its Infrastructure Era
Britain Nationalises British Steel to Protect Scunthorpe Production and Strategic Supply
Thomas Tuchel Faces Fierce Backlash After Tactical Retreat Costs England World Cup Final Berth
A Quiet Bastille Day: France Grapples with World Cup Heartbreak and Leftover Fireworks
Spain in Ecstasy: "We Feel Unbeatable, We Taught the Whole World a Lesson"
Harvard Astrophysicist to Lead U.S. Scientific Advisory on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena
Emergency Sirens Activated Across Bahrain as Interior Ministry Issues Shelter Directives
World Cup Visitors Turn American Big-Box Stores Into Souvenir Stops
Netflix Weighs Always-On Channels, Bundles and Short-Form Video
The AI Invoice Shock: Layoffs Didn't Save Managers Money — They Cost Them More
Concern: Sexually Transmitted Bacterium Among Men Develops Antibiotic Resistance
Passenger Partially Pulled Out of Ryanair Jet After Cabin Window Fails Mid-Flight
Severe Heatwave Drives Dangerous Ground-Level Ozone Pollution Across Two Thirds of European Union
The Physical and Electronic Barriers Disrupting Domestic Wireless Networks
France and Morocco Open World Cup Quarter-Finals as Collina Defends Refereeing
Tech Pulse: The Future of AI and Screen Culture
Global News Briefing: Escalating Geopolitical Tensions and Corporate Shakeups
Global News Brief: Escalating Conflicts, Public Health Crises, and World Cup Drama
Europe's Growing Struggle with Extreme Heat and Air Conditioning
Anthropic Reengineers Agentic Architecture to Shift Autonomous Workplace Automation to the Cloud
Logic Flaw in Windows 11 Permission Architecture Silently Consumes Hundreds of Gigabytes of Local Storage
Apple Advances Late-Stage Operating Systems with Fourth Beta Deployments
Global Crisis Alert: Escalating Middle East Tensions and UK Political Upheaval
Japanese Technology Firm Fujitsu Launches Advanced Artificial Intelligence Tool for Corporate Disclosures
South Africa Officially Launches Nationwide Campaign for Highly Contested Local Government Elections
United Kingdom Commits Additional Funding for Unexploded Ordnance Clearance in Laos
Singapore Announces Stringent New Greenhouse Gas Regulations for Commercial Cooling Systems
Cambodia and Thailand Hold High-Level Border Security Talks at United Nations Headquarters
Myanmar Military Government and China Sign Major Agreement to Upgrade Media and Cultural Cooperation
Knife Attack at Swiss Train Station Leaves Three Injured in Suspected Act of Domestic Terrorism
Transnational Extortion Gang Threatens Canadian Police With Army of One Thousand Armed Operatives
Australia Imposes Forty-Two-Day Quarantine on Cruise Ship Passengers Following Deadly Hantavirus Outbreak
×