Country says tennis star, who faces bankruptcy proceedings, is not one of its diplomats 
 
 The Central African Republic has denied that Boris Becker is one of its official diplomats and said a passport the former tennis star claimed should give him diplomatic immunity from bankruptcy proceedings in the UK is invalid. 
 
 “The diplomatic passport that he has is a fake,” the foreign ministry’s chief of staff, Cherubin Moroubama, told Agence-France Presse. He said the document’s serial number corresponded to one of a batch of passports stolen in 2014. 
 
 AFP said the passport, of which it had seen a copy, was dated 19 March 2018 but had not been stamped or signed by the country’s foreign minister, Charles Armel Doubane. 
 
 On Friday lawyers for the three-time Wimbledon champion informed the high court in London that he had been appointed as the CAR’s attaché to the EU on sporting, cultural and humanitarian affairs in April. They argued this gave him diplomatic immunity from bankruptcy proceedings under the Vienna convention. 
 
 According to the German daily Die Welt, Doubane told journalists in Bangui that Becker was “not an official diplomat for the Central African Republic. To be recognised as a diplomat, it would require not just president’s nomination but also my signature as foreign minister.” 
 
 Moroubama said the job Becker claimed to be doing for his nation – which, despite abundant natural resources including gold, diamonds and uranium, ranks bottom of the UN’s human development index – “does not exist”. 
 
 Becker, who became the youngest male grand slam champion when he won Wimbledon as an unseeded player in 1985, was declared bankrupt in June last year over an undisclosed sum owed to the private bankers Arbuthnot Latham & Co. 
 
 After his lawyers submitted the application for immunity, Becker said the decision to commence bankruptcy proceedings against him was “both unjustified and unjust” and he was asserting immunity “to bring this farce to an end so that I can start to rebuild my life”. ||||| FILE - In this file photo originally released on Friday, April 27, 2018, President Prof. Faustin Archange Touadera, left, shakes hands with retired German tennis star Boris Becker in Brussels, Belgium,... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this file photo originally released on Friday, April 27, 2018, President Prof. Faustin Archange Touadera, left, shakes hands with retired German tennis star Boris Becker in Brussels, Belgium, after it was announced Becker has been appointed by the Central African Republic as its Attache for... (Associated Press) 
 
 LONDON (AP) — Retired German tennis star Boris Becker is claiming his unpaid role as a sports attache for Central African Republic gives him diplomatic immunity from bankruptcy proceedings in Britain. 
 
 The three-time Wimbledon champion took up the attache role in April. His lawyers claimed in Britain's High Court late Thursday that this protects him from ongoing bankruptcy actions. 
 
 Becker says his role as Central African Republic attache to the European Union on sporting, cultural and humanitarian affairs means he is covered by a 1961 convention on diplomatic relations. 
 
 Legal expert Mark Stephens told The Associated Press that in his view Becker's claim is valid, but he urged Central African Republic to take steps to prevent the apparent abuse of diplomatic immunity. 
 
 "Central African Republic should be asked to revoke his immunity for this particular case because it relates to his personal activities and predates his appointment and in no way relates to his diplomatic function," Stephens said. "That would let the court case proceed." 
 
 The 50-year-old Becker, who lives in Britain, was declared bankrupt in June 2017. He is selling some of his memorabilia including Wimbledon trophies in an effort to reduce his debts. 
 
 The former world No. 1 has criticized the bankruptcy proceedings as "unjustified and unjust," saying he had been pushed into an unnecessary declaration of bankruptcy by "a bunch of anonymous and unaccountable bankers and bureaucrats" trying to damage him. 
 
 "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 life," Becker said. 
 
 Becker was named to the volunteer sports attache role on April 26, more than nine months after his bankruptcy declaration. 
 
 Central African Republic President Faustin Touadera said at the time he was "extremely pleased that a world star like Boris Becker, with his extensive international relations, has agreed to support our country." 
 
 Becker said then that he hoped to help improve living conditions in Central African Republic. A press release indicated he would have an office at the country's embassy in Brussels. 
 
 Since the appointment, Becker's Twitter feed has shown no signs of promoting anything in Central African Republic. It was also not immediately clear whether Becker has ever visited the African nation. 
 
 The landlocked Central African Republic is one of the world's most impoverished countries, destabilized by deadly sectarian violence since 2013 with thousands of people of killed and hundreds of thousands displaced. 
 
 The news of Becker's claim of immunity was met with confusion Friday in the country's capital, Bangui, where several people said they didn't even know who Becker was. 
 
 A spokesman for the presidency said it was up to Becker to be responsible for his own actions. 
 
 "We're not responding to something that has nothing to do with us," spokesman Albert Yaloke Mokpeme said. 
 
 But a member of the country's Olympic committee, Cecile Kolingba, said "trying to brandish this diplomatic cover to escape justice, I find that dishonest." 
 
 Attacks by armed groups surged again last year in parts of the country of 4.5 million people, sending thousands of people fleeing from their homes. The unrest has created more than a half a million refugees, according to the United Nations. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Marboua reported from Bangui, Central African Republic. Cara Anna in Johannesburg contributed. ||||| Image copyright AFP Image caption Boris Becker says the legal action being taken against him is "unjustified and unjust" 
 
 Confusion surrounds a claim by former tennis champion Boris Becker that he holds diplomatic status on behalf of the Central African Republic (CAR). 
 
 He asserted last week in London that his appointment as a diplomat by the CAR gave him protection from legal action in a bankruptcy case. 
 
 The CAR embassy in Belgium confirmed it had issued him a diplomatic passport. 
 
 However, a top official in the CAR foreign ministry told a French news agency the passport was fake. 
 
 Cherubin Moroubama told AFP the serial number on the document matched one of a batch of "new passports that were stolen in 2014". 
 
 He added that the passport, dated 19 March 2018, does not bear the signature or the stamp of the foreign minister. 
 
 CAR foreign minister Charles Armel Doubane later told Reuters an inquiry was being launched into who had issued the passport. 
 
 Lawyers for the 50-year-old three-time Wimbledon champion say he was appointed a sport and culture attache to the EU by the CAR in April. 
 
 In that month he tweeted a picture of himself shaking hands with CAR President Faustin-Archange Touadera in Brussels. 
 
 Mr Becker was declared bankrupt in 2017 over money owed to private bank Arbuthnot Latham and is now being pursued for "further assets". 
 
 In his defence lodged with the High Court in London last week, Mr Becker's lawyers maintained he could not be made subject to any legal process unless President Touadera specifically lifted his immunity at the request of the British government. 
 
 Image copyright CAR embassy Brussels Image caption Mr Becker's photo appeared on the website of the CAR embassy in Brussels 
 
 His legal team said: "This means he cannot be subject to legal process in the courts of any country for so long as he remains a recognised diplomatic agent." 
 
 But on Tuesday, Mr Moroubama was quoted by AFP as saying that "Becker's job profile does not exist" in the CAR's records. 
 
 He added that the document in question describes Becker's diplomatic role as "financial charge de mission... nothing to do with sporting questions". 
 
 Mr Becker's lawyers have not yet responded. 
 
 The tennis star became the first German to win Wimbledon in 1985, at the age of 17. 
 
 He won it again in 1986 and 1989 among the 64 ATP Tour titles he claimed during a 15-year career. 
 
 After his retirement as a player he became a commentator with the BBC.
– Boris Becker's claim of diplomatic immunity in an ongoing bankruptcy case just went from odd to bewildering. Though the former tennis champ claims his April appointment as a Central African Republic attache to the European Union means he's immune from bankruptcy hearings in the UK, the CAR appears to be balking. Becker's claimed post of attache for sports, culture, and humanitarian affairs "does not exist" in CAR records, meaning he's not an official diplomat, says Foreign Ministry chief of staff Cherubin Moroubama. What's more, the diplomatic passport issued to Becker in March, listing his post as "financial charge de mission," is phony, with a serial number matching one of several stolen under a transitional government in 2014, Moroubama says, per the BBC and Guardian. CAR Foreign Minister Charles Armel Doubane calls the passport a "clumsy fake," per ABC Australia. "To be recognized as a diplomat, it would require not just [the] president's nomination but also my signature as foreign minister," he adds, per the Guardian. That leaves plenty of questions for CAR's ambassador to the EU, Daniel Emery Dede, who reportedly signed Becker's passport, and for the CAR embassy in Belgium, which confirmed the issuance of it and featured a photo of Becker on its website, per the BBC. Becker, who met with CAR President Faustin-Archange Touadera in Brussels in April, is maintaining his diplomatic status amid the confusion, reports Deutsche Welle, which has a certificate a lawyer says confirms Becker's position as attache for finance, as well as for sports, culture, and humanitarian affairs.