Daniel Kinahan and Tyson Fury Mentioned in Irish Parliament

Tyson Fury’s relationship with Daniel Kinahan was debated in the Irish Parliament on Thursday a day after the WBC heavyweight champion credited the Dubai-based Irishman as the man who sealed a deal for Fury to face Anthony Joshua.

Kinahan’s role within boxing has often been questioned because of his connection to an organised crime group. He is now adviser to Fury and Top Rank, a situation that has not been well received in Irish political circles.

Leo Varadkar, the Irish Taoiseach (the country’s premier), said he was “taken aback” by Fury’s Instagram post praising Kinahan, who Varadkar said has “a quite a chequered history in this State and elsewhere”. He said there had been contact between the Irish foreign affairs department and the government of the United Arab Emirates, where Kinahan lives, about him.

Mr Varadkar was responding to Ireland’s Labour Party leader, Alan Kelly, who wants the Irish government to take action to stop Kinahan being involved in any boxing promotions.

"There’s an individual from our country who has according to the High Court is a very senior figure in organised crime on a global scale and according to CAB has controlled and managed operations of Kinahan organised crime group for some time,” Kelly told the Dail, the Irish parliament.

"He’s now rebranded himself in the Middle East as a boxing promoter and one of the most famous individuals involved in that has described him as a smart, able and honest man. Taoiseach our country has to intervene here.

"We have to, through the Department of Foreign Affairs, intervene with the UAE in relation to this individual.

"We owe it to the victims of such a cartel. Our country needs to do this and needs to do it today.”

The “famous individual” referred to was Bob Arum, who has regularly spoken of Kinahan as “honest” and a person who he can work with, appointing him as an official adviser to Top Rank.

Kinahan founded MTK Global (then MGM Marbella) with Matthew Macklin, but it was sold in 2017 to Sandra Vaughan, who has denied that he now has any involvement with the company.