Former Chinese sports minister Yuan Weimin claims in a new book that the Chinese regime made a secret deal with Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee—or IOC.

Yuan Weimin’s book, ghost-written by Yuan Shan, is titled “Yuan Weimin and the Sports World.”

According to the book, Rogge and Yuan made a verbal agreement—that the Chinese regime would support Rogge to become president of the IOC in exchange for his support in their bid for the 2008 Olympics.

Yuan wrote, “Of course we made the promise that China would persuade its friends to support Rogge. In return we got Rogge’s support in winning over the European members.”

The backroom bargaining of the IOC is rarely discussed openly, let alone by a participant of the process such as Yuan.

Rogge and the IOC have denied the allegations. The committee released a statement saying, “Any insinuation that deals would have been made is absolutely false.”

At the IOC meeting in Moscow in 2001, Beijing won the bid for the 2008 Olympics in a landslide. Three days later, Rogge was elected IOC president.

Chinese rights groups say the Chinese regime broke its promise that the Olympics would be accompanied by greater freedoms—like open media access and the right to peaceful assembly. Thousands of petitioners, Falun Gong adherents, and activists were rounded up and detained ahead of the Games.