Julius OkorieFormer Germany defender of Ghanaian descent, Jérôme Boateng, has resolved to henceforth concentrate on his soccer career after final verdict on his lingering abuse case was delivered this weekend.
“I am immensely relieved that this nightmare that has lasted for years is now over,” Boateng said in a statement released by his media adviser. “Now I want to concentrate on my family and football.”
Join our WhatsApp ChannelBoateng was handed a suspended fine and a warning after a Munich court on Friday found him guilty of premeditated bodily harm against his former partner.
The €200,000 ($217,760) suspended fine (€5,000 per day for 40 days) must only be paid if Boateng commits another offence.
The judge also ordered Boateng to pay a total of €100,000 to charity organisations, a court spokesperson said.
The 2014 World Cup winner, who appeared in the Munich court wearing a dark blue suit, was accused of injuring his ex-girlfriend in a fight during a vacation in 2018.
The mother of his twin daughters accused Boateng of hurling a lamp at her, which missed and then throwing a small box which injured her arm, before hitting her and pulling her hair.
The 35-year-old Boateng, who recently transferred from Italy’s Salernitana to Austria’s LASK Linz, denied injuring his ex-girlfriend.
Friday’s trial was the third in the bodily harm case.
State prosecutors, who had demanded a fine of €1.12 million, now have one week to decide whether to appeal the case to Bavaria’s top court, according to a spokesperson.
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The charges against Boateng were first brought in 2019. Boateng denied hitting and injuring Senler in July 2018 when they were on vacation in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Litany Of Cases:
In September 2021, Boateng was found guilty of domestic violence against Senler and ordered to pay a fine of 1.8 million euros, the highest possible financial damages that could be imposed by the Munich District Court.
In November 2022, he was convicted of assault and ordered to pay 1.2 million euros to Senler, but that decision was overturned at a regional court because of legal errors and the process had to be restarted.
Boateng also faced allegations of assault against another former girlfriend, Kasia Lenhardt, in 2019, which his attorney rejected.
The investigation was closed in 2020 after Lenhardt decided not to provide any more incriminating statements, but it was reopened following her death in February 2021 when authorities received new information from police. Lenhardt, a model, was found dead in a Berlin apartment. Police said they found no evidence of outside involvement.
Boateng played 76 games for Germany. He joined Austrian team Linz in May this year, in a contract that will see him remain with the club till 2026.
Julius Okorie is Chief Sports and Entertainment Correspondent for Prime Business Africa. He began his journalism career with the Champion Newspaper and Sporting Champion and later moved on to Daily Independent and the Nation Newspapers. Okorie joined Prime Business Africa in 2024 bringing on board 20 years of experience in writing investigative news on Sports and Entertainment. His well researched and highly informative articles on Sports Business and general entertainment are followed by a wide range of audience.
