Boris Becker’s diplomatic passport is a ‘clumsy fake’, says foreign minister

BORIS BECKER’S diplomatic passport is a “clumsy fake”, the Central African Republic’s foreign minister has claimed, in the latest instalment of the former tennis star’s bankruptcy saga.

The three-times Wimbledon champion is asserting diplomatic immunity under the Vienna Convention in his bankruptcy proceedings, and provided a High Court judge with a letter from the republic’s embassy in Brussels stating that he is an attaché for sports, humanitarian and cultural affairs in the European Union.

The letter stated that Becker was issued with a diplomatic passport on March 19 and that it runs until 2023.

However, a diplomatic passport requires the signature of Charles Armel Doubane, the country’s foreign minister. He claimed to Reuters that the version he had seen was a “clumsy fake”, adding that “the signature on the passport was not mine”. Mr Doubane said that the government was launching an inquiry into who issued it to Becker.

Cherubin Moroubama, the foreign ministry’s chief of staff, claimed to Agence-france Presse that the serial number corresponded to one of a batch of passports stolen in 2014, and that the role Becker claims to occupy “does not exist”. That contradicts a statement attributed to Faustin Archange Touadéra, the president. The Brussels embassy issued a statement reiterating that Becker “was appointed to the diplomatic service by the president of our country” and said Britain must comply with the Vienna Convention.

A spokesman for Becker was unavailable for comment.