In Brief : Church Refuses Borg’s Bid to Wed
The Roman Catholic church has turned down a request from Swedish former tennis ace Bjorn Borg and Italian pop singer Loredana Berte to marry in Milan next month, a spokesman said today.
Borg adviser Ingmar Alverdal told Sweden’s national news agency TT that he does not know why the church wedding planned for Feb. 26 has been stopped.
“Bjorn and Loredana are deeply shocked and don’t know what to do next,” he said.
A Catholic church spokesman said: “They have both been married before and, according to our belief, marriage is sacred. Of course you can have a marriage annulled, but it takes time.”
Borg, 32, who retired from professional tennis in 1983 after winning five consecutive Wimbledon titles, revealed his plans to marry the 38-year-old singer earlier this month.
His first marriage, to Romanian tennis player Mariana Simonescu, ended in divorce after four years. Berte is divorced from an Italian businessman.
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