MUNICH: German World Cup winner Jerome Boateng has been fined €1.8m by a court in Munich after being found guilty of assaulting his former partner three years ago.

Boateng, who has played 76 times for Germany including the 2014 World Cup, was convicted of wilful bodily harm and insulting Sherin Senler, his former girlfriend.

The player, now with French club Lyon, denied the allegations and remains on bail.

Prosecutor Stefanie Eckert had called for a suspended 18-month prison sentence and a fine of €1.5m for what she described as a “toxic relationship”.

Boateng, 33, who moved to Lyon last week after a trophy-laden decade with Bayern Munich, attacked the mother of his twin daughters during a Caribbean holiday in 2018.

Earlier, the footballer’s ex-girlfriend had told the court how he punched her, causing her to lose her breath for a moment during a heated argument while on a luxury holiday.

World Cup flop

The incident happened in the weeks after the World Cup in Russia, when Boateng was in the Germany squad which was knocked out in the group stage.

Tensions were said to be running high between the former couple, who disagreed over living arrangements as Boateng chased a high-profile transfer to Paris Saint-Germain, which never materialised.

The court in Munich heard how an argument broke out over a game of cards.

While giving evidence, Boateng’s former partner described how he “pressed against my eye with his thumb, bit me in the head and pulled me to the floor by my hair.”

She said Boateng repeatedly insulted her and hit her on the back with “one strong punch and several light punches. That’s when I lost my breath for a moment.”

Boateng and his ex-girlfriend are also locked in an ongoing legal dispute over custody of their twin daughters, who currently live with the footballer.

A former ex-girlfriend, influencer and model Kasia Lenhardt, was found dead having committed suicide in a Berlin flat in February while he was away playing for Bayern at the Club World Cup in Qatar.

He was immediately given permission to fly home after news of her death.

The 25-year-old died six days after Boateng finished their relationship.

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