Vice President Dirk Hordorff from the German Tennis Association (DTB) denies the allegations against him. “Mr Hordorff rejects the allegations made as simply untrue. He is confident that this will be confirmed,” said the Hamburg law firm commissioned by Hordorff in a statement on Friday.
Previously, a former and a current tennis professional had made serious allegations against their former coach Hordorff in reports from the Süddeutsche Zeitung, NDR and Sportschau. Among other things, Maximilian Abel, who is currently in prison, and Sriram Balaji from India claimed that they had to undress for “muscle checks” in the past and that their bodies were touched.
The former fifth in the world rankings Rainer Schüttler, whom Hordorff coached for almost two decades, assured the SZ that he “always behaved correctly and never in any way encroached”.
The DTB said in a statement that an independent investigation by a specialized law firm had come to the conclusion “that the allegation of misconduct cannot be proven with certainty. The member of the executive committee will not be exercising his office until further notice.” The DTB did not mention Hordorff’s name in the statement.
According to Hordorff’s lawyers, the fact that he did not exercise his office “is not related to the investigation carried out by the DTB”, as the statement says: “Mr. Hordorff is currently unhealthy due to an operation on an aneurysm that took place at the beginning of March and an upcoming operation to hold office.”
