Boris Becker dodges bankrupty case as CARs ambassador
News & Trends •
when asked about becker european commission spokeswoman maja kocijancic told a daily news briefing in brussels on friday we have neither been involved in this appointment nor been asked for eu accreditation1 three-time wimbledon champion boris becker announced friday he is claiming diplomatic immunity from bankruptcy proceedings in britain as an ambassador for the central african republic1 becker who won six grand slams in the 1980s and 90s was declared bankrupt by a london court in june 2017 for failing to pay a long-standing debt1 but his position as attache to the european union on sporting cultural and humanitarian affairs could be covered by the 1961 vienna convention on diplomatic relations1 this means the consent of britains foreign secretary boris johnson and his counterpart in bangui would be needed before becker is subjected to any legal proceedings his lawyers said1 the bankruptcy application was made by private bankers arbuthnot latham1 becker however said the decision to commence bankruptcy proceedings against me was both unjustified and unjust1 a bunch of anonymous and unaccountable bankers and bureaucrats pushed me into a completely unnecessary declaration of bankruptcy which has inflicted a whole heap of damage on me both commercially and professionally and on those close to me he added in a statement issued by his lawyers1 i have now asserted diplomatic immunity as i am in fact bound to do in order to bring this farce to an end so that i can start to rebuild my life1 a spokesman for arbuthnot contacted by afp in london declined to comment1 lawyers for the 50-year-old tennis player a former world number one lodged a claim thursday in the high court asserting immunity after he was appointed a sports attache for the central african republic in april1 so as concerns the role he is playing maybe best to ask your questions to the authorities of the central african republic1 mark stephens a lawyer with london-based law firm howard kennedy and an expert in diplomatic immunity said becker should not be allowed to avoid accountability just because he has a role with the central african republic1 stephens told britains press association the vienna convention which established diplomatic immunity was intended to protect the highest members of state sovereigns prime ministers that sort of thing not advisers to fishing organisations say1 the trustees handling the bankruptcy said they do not accept these assertions made by becker1 we welcome mr beckers appointment to promote sport in the central african republic. however we believe that it has no material impact on mr beckers bankruptcy trustee mark ford said in a statement1 becker shook up the tennis world at wimbledon in 1985 when as an unseeded player he became the then youngest-ever male grand slam champion at the age of 17 defending the trophy the following year1 the german went on to enjoy a glittering career and amassed more than 25 million in prize money1 beckers tangled private life has also kept him in the news1 he has a daughter conceived in a brief but now famous encounter with a russian model who claimed she met becker at a london bar and had sex with him in a broom cupboard at a nearby japanese restaurant1 in january becker appealed for help in tracking down five missing grand slam trophies which he said he needed to sell to help pay off his debts1