Peter Graf (tennis coach)

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Peter Graf (born June 18, 1938 in Mannheim ; † November 30, 2013 there ) was a German tennis coach . He was the father and manager of the German tennis player Steffi Graf .

Life

Youth and parents

Graf grew up as the only child of Alfons and Rosemarie Graf in a strictly Catholic family in Mannheim. After the war he attended the Karl-Friedrich-Gymnasium Mannheim . The mother died when Peter Graf was 18 years old. The relationship with the father was disturbed afterwards, the two did not speak to each other for years. Graf played soccer at FC Friedrichsfeld.

Supporter and manager of his daughter Steffi Graf

Peter Graf was working as an insurance salesman and used car dealer when he discovered tennis at the age of 27. Within a few years he made it to the regional league player, he acquired a coaching license and a tennis hall.

Graf discovered the sporting and motor skills of his daughter Stefanie early on, who began tennis in 1973 at the age of four. Under the guidance of her father, Steffi won a traditional puppy tournament in Munich in 1975. Convinced of her exceptional talent, Peter Graf gave up his previous employment two years later and from then on devoted himself exclusively to the sporting success of his daughter as a trainer.

In 1977 Graf was the player-coach of the first men's team at the Blau-Weiß tennis club in Bensheim .

The press soon gave the daughter the attribute of a “child prodigy”, which confirmed Peter Graf's convictions. In 1982 he registered the 13-year-old daughter as a player on the WTA professional tour . From that point on, he was also her manager. The former Czechoslovak tennis professional Pavel Složil was appointed as the official coach of the young Germans. Fundamental decisions regarding the sporting career and the marketing of daughter Stefanie were still made by Peter Graf.

The close relationship of trust between the aspiring tennis player and her father was rated differently in the press and among experts. Some voices criticized Peter Graf's inexperience as a manager. Others worried about the apparently hermetically sealed off life of the young tennis hope. Others, on the other hand, praised the careful and cautious development of the daughter's career, who, under the supervision of her father, did not suffer the fate of many young, highly talented tennis players who were burned out early.

1987 daughter Steffi Graf was first in the world number one for the first time. In 1988 she made tennis history with her unique win in the history of sports at the Golden Slam .

Involvement in scandals or suspected scandals

Alleged facilitation payments

In 1988 the press reported on financial irregularities in Stefanie Graf's management. It was said that bribes totaling several hundred thousand marks had been paid for the daughter's participation in the Fed Cup . This claim has never been proven beyond doubt.

During this period, the fact that the German tennis player, unlike many of her colleagues, did not move her residence from Brühl abroad in order to avoid payments to the German tax authorities was often positively emphasized.

Alleged relationship with the nude model Nicole Meissner

In the spring of 1990, Peter Graf was targeted by the German tabloid press for weeks. The Bild-Zeitung claimed under the title “Sex, Baby, Nacktmodell” that he was having an affair with the former nude model Nicole Meissner, and reported about an allegedly kept secret paternity. The 20-year-old model was assigned a close relationship with boxing promoter Ebby Thust , who in turn was said to have contacts in the Frankfurt red-light district. Meissner and Thust were later sentenced to three years in prison for extorting Peter Graf - Peter Graf had previously paid 800,000 marks to prevent the rumors from being published in the media. During this crisis, Steffi Graf lost the lead in the world rankings and suffered an unusually high number of defeats.

Conviction for tax evasion

In 1995, the Mannheim public prosecutor opened a case against Peter and Stefanie Graf on suspicion of tax evasion . May 23, 1995, immediately before the start of the French Open , found house searches instead. According to press reports, the public prosecutor's office was interested in illegal tax-saving models and forms of investment.

On August 2, 1995, Peter Graf was taken into custody “because of [the] urgent suspicion of tax evasion” and because there was a risk of flight and the risk of blackout .

The Berliner Kurier reported on October 15, 1995 that Steffi Graf had been questioned by the Mannheim public prosecutor. There was talk of inconsistencies in the 1993 tax return; it may not have listed various items of income or not in full and may have been signed by a typewriter. Steffi Graf said that she was not entrusted with all financial matters herself. Peter Graf was silent about the allegations.

On November 27, 1995, the news magazine Focus reported that Peter Graf would break his previous silence in a statement to the Mannheim public prosecutor, "assume full responsibility for financial transactions" in the tax affair and "that he is responsible for all business matters of his daughter" be. In addition, he would "list in a comprehensive statement how and where Steffi Graf's millions of dollars were invested". His daughter was exonerated and the proceedings against her were dropped.

The Berliner Zeitung (BZ) reported on February 5, 1996 that the final report of the tax investigation had come to the conclusion that Peter Graf “smuggled around 41 million marks past the tax authorities between 1989 and 1993 in favor of his daughter”. In the confiscated documents, the investigators came across advertising contracts "that were not included in previous tax returns". Steffi Graf, according to the BZ, has meanwhile assured that “she will stay in Germany and take responsibility for mistakes that she may have made herself”.

Peter Graf himself was released from pretrial detention in 1996 in return for high editions and the payment of a bail of allegedly three million DM.

On April 17, 1996, the Mannheim public prosecutor finally brought charges against him and his financial advisor. The accusation was based on suspicion of "particularly serious, jointly committed tax evasion in twelve cases". The verdict was issued in 1997: Peter Graf was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison for tax evasion totaling 12.3 million marks. With this sum, Graf is one of the five prominent personalities who withheld the most money from the tax office. As early as 1996, a big name in the sport, the show jumper Paul Schockemöhle, was convicted of tax evasion.

Consequences of the conviction and divorce of his wife Heidi

In the course of the legal proceedings, Steffi Graf rearranged her financial affairs. In some interviews she emphasized that she would take care of her financial and sporting affairs herself in the future. Her father lost his position as manager and sports advisor to the daughter. In the press there was at times also talk of a break within the Graf family. Nevertheless, Steffi repeatedly emphasized her solidarity with her father in public.

In 1998 Peter and Heidi Graf separated, in 1999 the marriage was divorced.

Early release and remarriage

Peter Graf was serving his sentence in the Ulm penal institution. He was released early in April 1998 after serving half of his term (including pre- trial detention ). In August 1999 he married Britta, an optician from Mannheim who was 20 years his junior and whom he had known since childhood and who brought a 15-year-old daughter into the marriage. In addition to daughter Steffi Graf, Peter Graf also had a son, Michael Graf. He was born in 1971 and was a racing driver for a short time. After his release from prison, Peter Graf worked again as a tennis coach and advised foreign tennis players. On November 30, 2013, Graf died of cancer in his apartment in Mannheim 's Lindenhof district after a long illness .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Thomas Sulzer: I often went to church with Steffi. In: Bild am Sonntag . April 27, 2008.
  2. ^ Steffi Graf in Bensheim ( Memento from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ). In: Bergstrasse Anzeiger . May 10, 2007.
  3. ↑ Hans Leyendecker, Heiner Schimmöller, Klaus Brinkbäumer: “There is a lot of ego involved”. In: spiegel.de . June 17, 1996, accessed April 6, 2017 .
  4. ^ Judgment. Nicole Meissner, 23, photo model, and Eberhard Thust, 44. In: spiegel.de. February 24, 1992, accessed April 6, 2017 .
  5. ↑ see also: Hoeneß tax affair. “Everyone must be able to rely on confidentiality”. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . April 25, 2013.
  6. ^ The Peter Graf Story. TV documentary for ARD by Ulrich Stein, first broadcast on May 1st, 2008 at 9.45 p.m. on Das Erste.
  7. ↑ Anja Schlicht: Top 5 prominent tax evaders: who evaded the most. In: finanzen.de. March 11, 2019.
  8. ↑ Heidi and Peter Graf divorced. In: tagesspiegel.de . April 2, 1999, accessed December 2, 2013.
  9. ↑ Peter Graf released from prison. In: Rhein-Zeitung . April 29, 1998. Retrieved May 12, 2019 .
  10. ^ Quiet and secret: Peter Graf married again. Steffi also thinks Britta is great. In: Rhein-Zeitung. August 29, 1999.
  11. ↑ Submerged. What is Peter Graf actually doing? In: RP Online . January 15, 2007.
  12. ^ Mannheim: Peter Graf died. In: Rhein-Neckar television . December 1st, 2013.
personal data
SURNAME Count, Peter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German tennis trainer and manager (Steffi Graf)
DATE OF BIRTH June 18, 1938
PLACE OF BIRTH Mannheim
DATE OF DEATH November 30, 2013
Place of death Mannheim