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Goonergal · 08-02-2002, 10:43 AM

Safin, Kafelnikov admit link to alleged mobster

TORONTO (Reuters) - Russian tennis players Marat Safin and Yevgeny Kafelnikov have both admitted to links with Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov, but distanced themselves from the alleged mobster charged with fixing figure skating results at the Winter Olympics.

Kafelnikov, who crashed out in the third round of the Canada Tennis Masters to Guillermo Canas of Argentina, said after his defeat that Tokhtakhounov was a "good friend" but would not elaborate on their relationship.

"He is a good friend of mine but I'd rather talk about tennis," said fifth seed Kafelnikov. "I wasn't distracted (by the news).

"You know whatever happens there...I'm sure it's some kind of mistake."

U.S. federal prosecutors in New York said they had charged Uzbek-born Tokhtakhounov, 53, over an alleged plan to fix the pairs and ice dance competitions at February's Salt Lake City Games on behalf of French and Russian competitors.

Italian police, who arrested Tokhtakhounov at his seaside home, bluntly described him as "a senior member of a money-laundering group comprising of mostly non-Italians".

Safin, the second seed in Toronto, also admitted to knowing Tokhtakhounov following his third-round victory over Chilean Marcelo Rios.

Questioned if he knew him, Safin replied: "Yeah". But he was evasive when asked if the alleged mobster was his manager.

"I don't mean to be rude but you will not understand, it is not our problem," said Safin. "I don't think it would be nice to talk about this today."

the cat · 08-02-2002, 11:31 AM

OMG!

You don't think the 2000 U.S. Open was fixed, do you?

Mags · 08-02-2002, 12:23 PM

...and as for the Australian 2002 final. Hands up who had money on Marat to win that one

TheBoiledEgg · 08-02-2002, 12:56 PM

Bubble · 08-02-2002, 01:48 PM

After reading this article, I went to yahoo news to read more about the figure skating scandal.
Below is the photo of the man Alimzan Tokhtakhounov.

Strangely enough, I found his face looked very familar as I remember seeing him somewhere in Marat's website.

True enough, I found another photo of this man.
you can go to http://www.maratsafin.com/photos_friends.htm
and see the last photo on the right row and it is the same guy pictured sitting next to Yevgeny in a group photo comprising Marat and Andrei Medvedev all dressed in black.

What a small world.... Of course I'm sure that Marat and YK has nothing to do with this case other than being friends with this man.

ys · 08-02-2002, 02:02 PM

Quote:

Italian police, who arrested Tokhtakhounov at his seaside home, bluntly described him as "a senior member of a money-laundering group comprising of mostly non-Italians".

That's actually sueable. Either they (police) have a proof that the guy is involved in this kind of ( illegal ) business, they prosecute him for that and then they have a right to make this kind of statements. Or this all is just a bullshit.

the cat · 08-02-2002, 02:55 PM

Something is amiss y_s. Something doesn't ad up!

ys · 08-02-2002, 03:24 PM

something what?

the cat · 08-02-2002, 03:50 PM

Are they going to take the Gold medals from the Russian Pairs team and the French Ice Dancing team?

And is this the beginning of the end of Russian sports as we know it?

TennisHack · 08-02-2002, 04:47 PM

First of all, I'm sure Jenya & Marat had nothing to do with the skating scandal (which was bordering on ridiculous and now has gone completely off the deep end). Who knows who all they came in contact with while the country was still Communist, and afterwards when the country was rife with corruption. The sports programs were under scrutiny for a long time under the Communist system.

But if they were in some sort of trouble I'm pretty sure we'd know about it.

Chloe le Bopper · 08-02-2002, 04:51 PM

So they know him, who cares..

It would make sense that a guy like him would know some of the richest athletes in his country wouldn't it?

It doesn't mean anything for Kafel and Safin, so who gives a whoop.

Static · 08-02-2002, 08:59 PM

I thought there was a difference between racquets and skates?

ys · 08-02-2002, 09:21 PM

Quote:

And is this the beginning of the end of Russian sports as we know it?

No, the cat, it is the end of the world. Didn't you know that that guy headed the Russian mob group running illegal import of cat furs into USA? They might be after you too.. Beware..

Sonic · 08-03-2002, 02:08 PM

Nimi · 08-04-2002, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by y_s

No, the cat, it is the end of the world. Didn't you know that that guy headed the Russian mob group running illegal import of cat furs into USA? They might be after you too.. Beware..

lmao