Wta Violates Own Rules

Members of the Women’s Tennis Association are violating their own rules by paying appearance money to lure top stars to play in tournaments, Der Spiegel magazine said.

Files assembled by the prosecutors in the tax evasion trial of Steffi Graf’s father, Peter, show that the German Tennis Federation paid her $1.7 million just to play in tournaments in Germany from 1990-93, the magazine said.

Spiegel quoted the WTA Code of Conduct Regulation 4.6 as saying: “No player (or her manager, trainer, family member) may accept money or items of worth, that are directly or indirectly from a source that attempts to influence or guarantee appearance at a tournament of the WTA tour.”