Rakhimov, currently under criminal indictment in Uzbekistan, confirmed to ABC News, through a translator, that he played a role in helping Russia win votes through his contacts in Central Asian Olympic circles.
"He convinced them because of his good relations with these people. He has great influence," the translator, who was also a spokesman for Rakhimov, told ABC during a phone interview.
Craig Murray, former British ambassador to Uzbekistan, told ABC that “[Rakhimov] is one of the four or five most important people in the heroin trade in the world… He’s absolutely a very major and dangerous gangster.”
Yet despite the allegations that Rakhimov is involved in organized crime and the drug trade, after the 2007 voting the head of the Russian Olympic Committee publicly thanked him, praising his “single-minded work” in obtaining votes from some Asian countries so that Sochi could host the upcoming Olympics, reports ABC.
A spokesperson for the International Olympic Committee did not directly answer questions about Rakhimov, but said in a statement, "The IOC has a strong, transparent, tried-and-tested bidding process."
A spokesperson for Russian President Vladimir Putin wouldn't comment on Rakhimov, instead referring to Putin's comments in a recent interview with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News.
"If anyone has concrete data on instances of corruption in implementing the Sochi Olympics Project, we ask them to furnish us with objective data," he said.
