Tennis affair about abuse: Hordorff resigns as Vice President

Dirk Hordorff has resigned from his post as Vice President of the German Tennis Association (DTB). The 66-year-old announced this through his lawyer on Wednesday. The DTB had recently asked Hordorff to resign from his post several times after allegations of abuse.

“I resigned from my position as Vice President of the German Tennis Association today. I also want to avoid damage to the DTB. I will now fully concentrate my strength on the refutation of the untrue allegations. The proceedings directed against me, which were rumored in the media, were discontinued by the Frankfurt public prosecutor’s office on March 28, 2023 in accordance with Section 170 (2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure,” the statement said.

Chief prosecutor Nadja Niesen, spokeswoman for the Frankfurt public prosecutor’s office, confirmed that the proceedings had been discontinued for legal reasons. “From our point of view, some of the criminal offenses have not been fulfilled or have become statute-barred,” said Niesen of the dpa.

On Monday, the DTB again asked Hordorff to resign, although the long-time official had rejected the allegations of sexualized violence and abuse of power as “simply untrue”. After the presidium, the ombudsman and spokesman for the federal committee also demanded that Hordoff resign from office by Wednesday.

Hordorff had left his post after serious allegations became known. NDR, “Sportschau” and “Süddeutsche Zeitung” had reported allegations by former tennis pro Maximilian Abel, among others, that there had been sexualized assaults for years.

Hordorff had denied the allegations and had his lawyer explain that there was no connection with the allegations that he was leaving his office. “Due to an operation on an aneurysm that took place at the beginning of March and an upcoming operation on an aneurysm, Mr. Hordorff is currently not in a position to hold office,” the lawyer said. (dpa)

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