Batyr Ikramjanovich Rakhimov, founder of Kapitalbank and former Pakhtakor FC president, was elected chairman of the Uzbekistan Tennis Federation on 17 February 2025, adding a prominent sporting role to a business portfolio spanning finance, insurance, construction and food production—and raising standard governance questions about elite network concentration in Uzbek sport administration.
Exiled Erk party leader Muhammad Salih confirmed meeting Batyr Rakhimov in early 2021 and handing him a written proposal for political reconciliation, corroborating Radio Ozodlik’s account that the businessman—married to a niece of Uzbekistan’s First Lady—was operating as an informal back-channel between the government and the banned opposition.
