30 January 2018
The International Boxing Association (Aiba) hit the headlines over the weekend when it appointed controversial businessman and suspected mafiosi Gafur Rakhimov its interim President.
Well-known in the world of boxing, this Uzbekistan born sports administrator – he’s been vice president of Aiba since 1998, is also thought to be a major figure in organised crime circles originating out of the former Soviet Union – as portrayed in the BBC drama McMafia.
In December 2017, the US treasury department named Rakhimov as offering “material support” for the so-called ‘Thieves-in-Law” group – described as a “Eurasian crime syndicate that has been linked to a long list of illicit activity across the globe,” according to the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control Director John E. Smith.
Rakhimov fell foul of Gulnara Karimova, eldest daughter of late president Islam Karimov, when she was in her prime and running amok in Tashkent, grabbing businesses as it pleased her.
Rakhimov was forced into exile in Dubai. Later he allegedly said he would gain revenge by making Gulnara and her sister Lola “run naked through the streets of Tashkent“ – Game of Thrones fans will see the similarity here to Cersei Lannister’s naked Walk of Shame through the streets of King’s Landing, as pointed out by @GoldenTent on twitter.
Kazaxia 
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