Peter Vilfan

Peter Vilfan (born 29 June 1957) is a Slovenian former professional basketball player, sports journalist, commentator, and a politician. He resigned from the National Assembly due to DUI in 2014, and from the State Secretary position in 2019 amid tax evasion proceedings.

Peter Vilfan
Peter Vilfan, in 2014.
Personal information
Born (1957-06-29) June 29, 1957
Maribor, PR Slovenia, FPR Yugoslavia
NationalitySlovenian
Listed height6 ft 2.75 in (1.90 m)
Listed weight195 lb (88 kg)
Career information
Playing career1976–1993
PositionPoint guard / Shooting guard
Career history
1976–1978Jugoplastika
1979–1984Smelt Olimpija
1985–1986Partizan
1987–1993Smelt Olimpija
Career highlights and awards
As player:
  • Yugoslav League champion (1977)
  • Yugoslav Cup winner (1977)
  • 2× Slovenian League champion (1992, 1993)
  • 2× Slovenian Cup winner (1992, 1993)
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  Yugoslavia
FIBA World Cup
1978 Philippines
1982 Colombia
EuroBasket
1979 Italy
1981 Czechoslovakia
European Championship for Cadets
1975 GreeceTeam

As a basketball player, he was a member of the senior Yugoslavia national team, with which he won a gold medal at the 1978 FIBA World Championship, in Manila. He was inducted into the Slovenian Athletes Hall of Fame, in 2013.

Basketball club career
Vilfan at the Union Olimpija vs. Maccabi Tel Aviv EuroLeague game, in 2009, working as a TV commentator for RTV Slovenia

During his club basketball playing career, Vilfan played with Maribor, Split, Olimpija, and Partizan.

Basketball national team career

Yugoslavian national team

Vilfan made 121 appearances with the senior Yugoslavian national basketball team, between 1977 and 1983, making him the third most capped Slovenian player for Yugoslavia. He played in five major international FIBA tournaments: the 1978 FIBA World Championship, the EuroBasket 1979, the EuroBasket 1981, the 1982 FIBA World Championship, and the EuroBasket 1983. He won one gold and one bronze medal at the FIBA World Cup, and one silver and one bronze at the EuroBasket.

Slovenian national team

Vilfan was the first team captain of the senior Slovenian national basketball team, following Slovenia's independence from Yugoslavia.

Post-playing career

After his retirement from playing professional basketball, Vilfan began working at the Slovenian radio and television network, as a sports commentator. He also opened a basketball school for children.[1]

Political career

In 2011, Vilfan joined the Positive Slovenia (PS) party, and was elected to the National Assembly. For the May 2014 European Parliament elections, he was placed last (8th place) on the list of candidates by the PS.[2] On 29 April 2014, he left the PS party.[3]

On 10 May 2014, he was driving under the influence, and hit an elderly pedestrian, who needed hospitalization. The next day, he admitted to the DUI event, and resigned as a member of the National Assembly.[4][5]

On 31 May 2014, he became a vice-president of the newly founded party Alliance of Alenka Bratušek.[6] In 2018 elections, Vilfan was not elected to the National Assembly and he became a State Secretary in Prime Minister's cabinet. In 2019, he resigned over tax evasion accusations.[7] Upon his resignation he paid 30.000 Euros of additional taxes levied on him by tax authorities.[8] In his resignation statement, he wrote that he had not reported his income correctly due to "bookkeeping error" and that he was resigning amid "two months of media pursuit, defamation, and pressure."[9]

Personal life

Vilfan's son-in-law is Macedonian professional basketball player Vlado Ilievski.[10]

See also

References
  1. Basketball school
  2. Dnevnik.si - Zadnja Vilfanova usluga Jankoviću
  3. RTVSLO.si - PS je razpadel. Odhajajoči ustanavljajo svojo skupino.
  4. RTVSLO.si - Vilfana bo v DZ-ju najverjetneje nadomestila Alenka Lampe, ki ostaja v PS-ju
  5. RTVSLO.si - Vilfan ni več poslanec. "Ne pijte alkohola, ko vozite."
  6. RTVSLO.si - "Želim, da ob dveh črkah ne vidite le mojega imena, ampak začetnici abecede"
  7. "Sports Secretary of State in PM's Office Resigns Over Tax Dodging". www.total-slovenia-news.com. Retrieved 2019-10-07.
  8. "Vsak dan prvi - 24ur.com". www.24ur.com. Retrieved 2019-10-07.
  9. "Peter Vilfan odstopil, ni več Šarčev državni sekretar, pravi, da definitivno odhaja iz politike". www.vecer.com (in Slovenian). 2019-03-01. Retrieved 2019-10-07.
  10. Slovenskenovice.si - V težavah tudi Vilfanov zet, Italijani mu očitajo utajo davkov
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