Trophies won by tennis star Boris Becker were auctioned off for £700,000 ($925,000) to pay his debts, a court has heard.
The six-time Grand Slam victor, 54, is accused of failing to hand over nine other awards, including two of his three Wimbledon men’s singles trophies and an Olympic gold medal, after he was declared bankrupt in June 2017.
Southwark Crown Court was told on Thursday that the former Wimbledon champion was “frustrated” with the ongoing bankruptcy process.
He also felt he was “badly treated” by private bank Arbuthnot Latham, which initiated proceedings after incurring a debt of more than £3 million over a loan on his estate in Mallorca, Spain — part of which was subject to a 25 per cent yearly interest rate.
Trustee Mark Ford — one of those attempting to recover Becker’s assets — said he had a “tense” relationship with the sports star, who became “emotional” when talking about trophies he said he no longer controlled.
The jury heard that in one conversation with Mr Ford, the tennis star said: “Mark, do you think, bearing in mind I am now facing criminal charges relating to these trophies, that if I had access to them, I wouldn’t have given them to you?”
Becker’s barrister Jonathan Laidlaw QC explained the trophies players are allowed to keep are miniature versions of those presented on court, showing jurors his 1986 President’s Cup replica.
He said the trophy was given by Becker to his mother, along with his Wimbledon title from the same year, and neither are included in the charges he faces.
The court has heard how other memorabilia taken from Becker, and his mother’s German home, was sold off to pay his debts.
“There was an auction which realised something like £700,000,” said Mr Laidlaw.
Becker, who won 49 singles titles in 77 finals in 16 years, denies 24 charges under the Insolvency Act.
They include nine counts of failing to hand over trophies and other awards, seven of concealing property, five of failing to disclose estate, two of removal of property and one of concealing debt.
As well as failing to offer up memorabilia including his 1991 and 1996 Australian Open trophies and his Davis Cup trophy and gold coin, Becker is accused of hiding €1.13 million (about £950,000/$1.3 million) from the sale of a Mercedes car dealership he owned in Germany.
The money is said to have been paid into his Boris Becker Private Office Ltd business account, which he used as a “piggy bank” to pay personal expenses, such as his children’s school fees, the court was told.
Becker is accused of transferring hundreds of thousands of pounds to other accounts, including those of his ex-wife Barbara Becker and estranged wife Sharlely “Lilly” Becker.
He also allegedly failed to declare two German properties, as well as his interest in a £2.25 million flat in Chelsea, West London occupied by his daughter Anna Ermakova, and hid an €825,000 (about £950,000/$1.3 million) bank loan as well as shares in a tech firm.
The court heard that Becker, who is being supported in court by his partner Lilian de Carvalho Monteiro, has a previous conviction for tax evasion and attempted tax evasion in Germany in 2002.
The trial continues.
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
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- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Married Malala
Malala Yousafzai is enjoying married life, her father said.
The 24-year-old married Pakistan cricket executive Asser Malik last year in a small ceremony in the UK.
Ziauddin Yousafzai told The National his daughter was ‘very happy’ with her husband.
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Jonathan Gornall, Simon & Schuster
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Country-size land deals
US interest in purchasing territory is not as outlandish as it sounds. Here's a look at some big land transactions between nations:
Louisiana Purchase
If Donald Trump is one who aims to broker "a deal of the century", then this was the "deal of the 19th Century". In 1803, the US nearly doubled in size when it bought 2,140,000 square kilometres from France for $15 million.
Florida Purchase Treaty
The US courted Spain for Florida for years. Spain eventually realised its burden in holding on to the territory and in 1819 effectively ceded it to America in a wider border treaty.
Alaska purchase
America's spending spree continued in 1867 when it acquired 1,518,800 km2 of Alaskan land from Russia for $7.2m. Critics panned the government for buying "useless land".
The Philippines
At the end of the Spanish-American War, a provision in the 1898 Treaty of Paris saw Spain surrender the Philippines for a payment of $20 million.
US Virgin Islands
It's not like a US president has never reached a deal with Denmark before. In 1917 the US purchased the Danish West Indies for $25m and renamed them the US Virgin Islands.
Gwadar
The most recent sovereign land purchase was in 1958 when Pakistan bought the southwestern port of Gwadar from Oman for 5.5bn Pakistan rupees.
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- 600-seat auditorium
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Venue: Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Date: Sunday, November 25
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
