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Is Boris Becker’s punishment fair? Controversy and emotional debate on “stern TV am Sonntag”
Moderator Dieter Könnes discussed Boris Becker with his guests on Sunday evening.
© Guido Engels / RTL
Tennis legend Boris Becker has been sentenced to two years and six months in prison. But is that fair? The round at star TV on Sunday was not entirely unanimous on the issue.
This judgment has moved millions of people: Boris Becker, tennis idol and to date the youngest Wimbledon winner of all time, was sentenced to two years and six months in prison on Friday for delaying insolvency. Is that too much, too little – or just appropriate? Almost everyone has an opinion on this.
And so it was good that moderator Dieter Könnes made his debut as moderator of star TV on Sunday of the topic and worked through the Becker case with his guests. Three former top athletes – Claudia Kohde-Kilsch, Regina Halmich and Mario Basler – sat with cabaret artist Serdar Somuncu and star-Reporter Johannes Röhrig together.
It was thanks to this mixture that the fate of the tennis idol was illuminated from different perspectives. Kohde-Kilsch and Halmich both know Becker personally, which is why compassion is the most important thing for them: they have known him for almost 40 years as a good and helpful person, says Kohde-Kilsch, who herself was once a world leader in tennis. The fact that the three-time Wimbledon winner now has to sit in prison with serious criminals – he really didn’t deserve that.
Boris Becker got his receipt
“Claudia and I see it more emotionally, because we know Boris and know: In principle, this is not a bad person,” explains long-time boxing world champion Halmich of her position and asks whether it should not have been better to let him work instead of him locked behind bars.
The third athlete in the round saw it much more soberly: “If I don’t have any money, I can’t live like a prince,” croaked Mario Basler, who was hoarse that evening. Boris did not use the insolvency proceedings.
Journalist Röhrig, who has been following Boris Becker’s case closely for many years, was also able to confirm this: The verdict is the receipt you get if you behave dishonestly for years. He may not believe that Boris unwittingly embezzled assets in the bankruptcy proceedings, so the verdict is harsh but justified.
Before the verdict in the luxury department store
Somuncu also sees major mistakes on the part of Boris Becker, who overestimated his position. The cabaret artist reminds that Becker is said to have bought an expensive bag in the luxury department store Harrods the day before the verdict was announced.
Which in turn caused Sabine Claßen to get excited. Her perspective was particularly valuable because the woman is in a very similar situation to Boris Becker: she is also in personal bankruptcy. What that means, she described on the show: Together with her husband, she only has 600 euros a month to live on. A visit to a restaurant has long been out of the question. While the insolvent Becker was happily shopping at Harrods, she couldn’t even afford a handbag for 15 euros in a discount store.
So it is understandable that she also views the case emotionally, but unlike Kohde-Kilsch or Halmich, feels little sympathy for the convict – on the contrary, considers the punishment too mild.
In the end, the spectators were also asked. Their verdict was balanced: out of more than 10,000 respondents, half considered the punishment to be fair, while a good quarter found it too harsh (22.23 percent) or too mild (26.26 percent). From this point of view, the British judiciary has done everything right: at least in Becker’s homeland, people seem to agree.
You can watch the show again on RTL+