Wimbledon presenters John McEnroe and Sue Barker slammed for showing support to jailed Boris Becker

BBC duo John McEnroe and Sue Barker have come under fire for pledging support to convicted criminal Boris Becker during a live broadcast at Wimbledon 2022.

Becker, a three-time Wimbledon champion, was handed a two-and-a-half year prison sentence earlier this year after failing to declare £2.5 million worth of assets to avoid paying debts.

The 54-year-old German, who regularly appeared on the BBC’s coverage of the Championships before his conviction, has been allowed to watch the 2022 tournament from his prison cell.

Becker is being held at HMP Huntercombe – a Category C men’s prison near Nuffield in Oxfordshire – ahead of an expected deportation early in 2023.

‘Boris, we love you,’ McEnroe said on Monday. ‘We miss you, man.’ Fellow presenter Barker then added: ‘We do indeed.’

One Twitter user wrote: ‘Stop presenters mentioning Boris Becker. We pay taxes in order to buy [a] license fee [and] he avoids it and it’s rubbed in our face.’

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It is not the first time McEnroe has expressed support for Becker, last week revealing that he plans to visit him in prison.

‘Boris is a friend of mine,’ he said. ‘This is just horrible. I want to see him if I possibly can and if he’s willing to see people.

‘I just feel terrible. He’s one of the great players that has ever played the game, and I know it meant a lot to Boris. He’s been going through a lot for a long time.’

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