Becker faces tax evasion charges

Becker: Wants more publicity for tennis but is no stranger to it himself

MUNICH, Germany -- German prosecutors say they have brought charges against three-times Wimbledon tennis champion Boris Becker for alleged tax evasion.

It is latest chapter in a colourful off-camera life for the sports star who this week told a German question-and-answer session he wanted to put something back into tennis and restore the glamour of the game.

"There is sufficient reason to suspect tax offences," the head of the Munich public prosecutor's office, Manfred Wick, told Reuters.

He said the Munich district court had not yet decided whether the charges were admissible for court action to go ahead.

Wick declined to specify the charges. Becker, 34, has been under investigation for allegedly claiming his residence was in Monaco, a tax haven, while in fact living in Germany.

Becker's communications director Robert Luebenoff could not immediately be reached for comment.

Last year Becker's lawyers said the Munich tax inspectorate had asked their client to pay $12 million dollars.

The tennis hero could face a jail sentence if convicted of tax evasion but in November Luebenoff said a compromise should be reached.

The former world number one became the youngest Wimbledon men's champion in 1985, aged 17 years seven months.

He retired from professional tennis in 1999, but remains a sports icon in Germany despite a series of setbacks since he quit the game.

Becker tried his luck in sports marketing and advertising and this week told a podium discussion in Stuttgart that he was "ready to help" put some lustre back into tennis.

"A 6-3, 6-4 match in 70 minutes bores the fans," he was quoted in the German media as saying.

"The fans want entertainment for their money... playing tennis for an hour and then leaving is not enough. They want to see drama."

One solution, he said, was to take a leaf out of F1 motor racing's book and make players more available to the media.

Becker also cited NBA basketball in the United States, saying: "In U.S. basketball, the reporters are allowed to interview the players in the locker-rooms."

Becker said tennis could improve its entertainment value by playing more and pausing less.

"There are lots of breaks in tennis. That leaves lots of possibilities. Just look at basketball and American football in the United States," said Becker.

Becker is not averse to attracting publicity himself -- some of it unwanted as when he divorced his wife of seven years, the German-American Barbara Feltus. He later agreed to a multi-million dollar settlement.

Becker then admitted fathering a baby girl in London with Russian model Angela Ermakova.

A year ago in London Becker -- reported then by the UK Press Association to be worth $90 million -- agreed a "generous" financial settlement towards the upbringing of the baby.

The settlement was described by the judge, Mr Justice Johnson, as "entirely reasonable and indeed generous."

The tax case echoes the woes of Germany's other tennis darling, Steffi Graf, whose father Peter spent nearly two years in jail after being convicted in 1997 of evading $7 million in tax on Steffi's earnings.

Becker has said his personal life spun into crisis after his father, Karl Heinz, died in 1999. He said in March he was finding happiness with a new girlfriend, Iranian-born Patrice Farameh.