Australian tennis legend Bob Hewitt evicted from Hall of Fame over 'sex abuse' allegations
Sydney, Nov. 16 (ANI)
Former Australian tennis star Bob Hewitt has reportedly been suspended from the International Tennis Hall of Fame over allegations that he sexually abused underage girls whom he coached, according to a report.
Hewitt, who was born in Dubbo, Australia, is currently under investigation in South Africa, where he now lives, but has not been held guilty of the charges.
Hall of Fame chief executive Mark Stenning said that the hall's executive committee voted unanimously to suspend Hewitt indefinitely after an outside investigation deemed credible the allegations of multiple women who said they were abused by Hewitt, while he coached them decades ago, the Herald Sun reports.
According to the paper, Hewitt won several Grand Slam events during his career in the 1960s and 1970s and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1992.
Hewitt is the first person to have ever been suspended or expelled from the hall.
Stenning said Hewitt's plaque in the enshrinement hall and other references to him at the institution and on its website were removed on Thursday. The website had called him an "enduringly elegant player" and a "master of the doubles craft", the paper said.
"His legacy ceases to exist in the Hall of Fame," Stenning said.