DON’T SHOW KINAHAN FIGHT
Leo urges TV stations to turn down Fury v Joshua
LEO Varadkar has called on tv stations not to show the daniel Kinahan-brokered big fight between tyson Fury and anthony Joshua.
The Taoiseach told the Dail media and sports organisations “should have nothing to do with this”.
Dubai-based Kinahan, named in court as the head of an international crime cartel, is at the centre of a huge furore over his involvement in the bout.
Mr Varadkar added: “The authorities in the United Arab Emirates know the situation and they know our concerns and our problems with it.”
TAOISEACH Leo Varadkar has urged TV companies not to screen the bout between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua if it goes ahead with Daniel Kinahan’s involvement.
The Dubliner’s role in brokering the fight has shone an unwelcome spotlight on the exiled mobster and his adopted home in Dubai.
Kinahan has been described in the Irish courts as the head of an international crime cartel.
And the Taoiseach told the Dail yesterday sporting and media organisations should not be giving the fight “any attention at all”.
Mr Varadkar revealed the United Arab Emirates has been well-informed about Kinahan’s criminal links by the Department of the Taoiseach.
He said: “There has been contact in the past between our own justice authorities and the United Arab Emirates on this and there has been contact from the Department of Foreign Affairs as well.
“But certainly the authorities in the UAE know the situation and they know our concerns and our problems with it.
“I think, it’s not a decision for me, but I think it would be entirely appropriate for sports organisations and media organisations to have nothing to do with this.
TRUTH
“Maybe they don’t know the facts or they don’t know the truth but they need to know them. And I wouldn’t like to see them giving it any attention at all given the circumstances.”
The Fine Gael leader, who revealed on Thursday officials are in contact with the UAE about the 42-year-old, accepted the Irish Government has no power to stop the event.
His comments came after Kinahan was branded “dead honest” by one of the most influential figures in world boxing.
Legendary US promoter Bob Arum dismissed the cartel chief ’s links to an organised crime group.
Arum – who has worked with fight icons like Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard – is dealing with Kinahan in a bid to stage the $200million superfight.
He is helping negotiate the heavyweight clash and has rejected the concerns raised in the Dail.
Arum also dismissed the findings of a High Court judge that Kinahan runs an international criminal cartel that is behind executions and drug deals.
He told Newstalk Breakfast: “I really must say not only is he intelligent, which everybody had told me before, but he is dead honest. Look I am not naive, what did or didn’t happen prior to his involvement in boxing is not of a major concern to me.
“First they are allegations, secondly they don’t really speak to how he has acted when he has been involved in boxing which is forthright, reliable, honest.”
Arum is a former investigator for the US Attorney’s office.
He said many people in the sport have had a shady past and added: “In boxing
– you might remind your prime minister – we’ve had situations where we’ve athletes who were accused and convicted of major crimes, serve their time and come into the sport of boxing and not only performed well but excelled.
“So boxing has been used by many people who’ve had questionable backgrounds who come into boxing.
“If they conduct themselves well, they then achieve a new type of attitude that people have to them because they are nothing but forthright and honest. So this is not unusual in boxing where somebody comes in, has some questionable background in the past, goes into boxing and then he’s judged for how he acts in the sport whether as a performer or a businessman.”
Arum was impressed with Kinahan’s “no-nonsense” approach to brokering the bout between the two heavyweights which would lead to a bumper pay day for the fighters and promoters. He said:
“I find him to be an honourable man. He has developed a great deal of trust with my company, myself and our people and he certainly is a trusted confidante of Tyson Fury so his participation and his views were most important in getting this off the ground.
“Everything he has told us and every promise he has made to us, he has delivered. I think he would say the same thing about us so we have had a very good relationship because we deal honestly and forthrightly with each other. Those are allegations and I don’t know anything about that. His dealings with us have been solely about Tyson Fury and the sport of boxing and if anybody asks me, I would say without any question that I find him to be an honourable man.
“Whatever the other allegations are, true or not true, I can’t get into it. I am not going to get into it because it’s none of my business. I judge this man based on how he has interacted with us.” The
Government is now putting pressure on authorities in the UAE over Kinahan’s residency there.
Minister of State for Sport Brendan Griffin told the Dail he has asked officials to draft letters to his UK counterpart and to Sky and BT Sport – who could screen the fight – expressing the Government’s “outrage about this matter”.
Sports Minister Shane Ross said it would be “absolutely wrong and tragic” for boxing clubs and volunteers in
Ireland “if their name was sullied by activities which are completely and utterly unacceptable”.
The Irish Mirror can also reveal Kinahan’s enemies in the Hutch mob have been celebrating his clash with the Government.
Social media accounts closely linked to Gerry “The Monk” Hutch have been revelling in the cartel chief ’s discomfort.
Those are allegations and I don’t know anything about that
BOB ARUM ON DANIEL KINAHAN’S MOB LINKS