A court in Germany has dismissed an injunction sought by jailed former tennis ace Boris Becker against a comic who had duped him into accepting cash for a TV prank.

Becker, 54, had sought the injunction against German comedian Oliver Pocher, 44, to prevent him from screening footage of a prank showing the three-time Wimbledon champion accepting a fake trophy full of banknotes.

But Offenburg district court dismissed Becker’s injunction application on 15th November, ruling that the broadcasting of Pocher’s prank would not violate the former world No. 1’s personal rights.

The prank was filmed in October 2020 for the RTL programme ‘Pocher – gefaehrlich ehrlich’ (‘Pocher: Dangerously Honest’).

The comedian – who was married to Becker’s ex-fiancee – had raised EUR 541.11 (GBP 475) in donations for the six-time Grand Slam winner with the slogan ‘Make Boris Rich Again’.

Becker had refused to accept the money, but Pocher had then invited him to a supposed fashion award ceremony backed by a fictional Austrian magazine.

There, the former tennis ace was awarded the fake trophy filled with cash.

A court spokeswoman had explained earlier this year: “The plaintiff did not know that the prize was created and awarded to the plaintiff for the sole purpose of sending him the collected cash amount – hidden in the prize trophy.”

Through his lawyer Samy Hammad, Becker – who believed he had been “degraded and insulted” by the prank – had demanded that the programme no longer be broadcast and deleted from the Internet.

But the court threw out his demands, citing freedom of expression and freedom of broadcasting in its ruling.

Pocher’s lawyer, Patricia Cronemeyer, also replied that Pocher had not once insulted Becker in the programme.

Neither Pocher nor Becker, who is serving time in HM Prison Huntercombe for hiding assets related to his 2017 bankruptcy, attended the hearings.

The judgment is not yet final.