TORONTO -- Russian tennis star Yevgeny Kafelnikov insists the reputed mobster charged with trying to fix Olympic skating results has been mistakenly accused.

"He's a good friend of mine, but I'd rather talk about tennis right now," Kafelnikov said Thursday after losing at the Tennis Masters Canada.

Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov was arrested Wednesday in Italy on U.S. charges he set up a vote-swapping scheme at the Salt Lake City Olympics.

"Whatever happened there, I'm sure it's some kind of mistake," said Kafelnikov, winner of two Grand Slam singles titles.

Italian police say an investigation into the Russian mafia uncovered the alleged ice-skating fix, as well as Tokhtakhounov's ties to other sports figures, including Ukrainian tennis player Andrei Medvedev.

Medvedev's Web site featured a 1999 picture of him with Tokhtakhounov, along with Kafelnikov and fellow Russian tennis star Marat Safin, the 2000 U.S. Open champion. That photo and two others with Tokhtakhounov were removed from the site Thursday.

"He's very close to Medvedev," police Col. Giovanni Mainolfi said, though he did not speculate on the nature of the relationship. Medvedev could not be reached for comment Thursday.

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."

Information from the Associated Press and Reuters was used in this report.