Channel 5 say they have no ties to Daniel Kinahan after show host refers to mob boss as 'old friend'

As head of global boxing for the sports agency Wasserman, Sauerland is fronting a show in London on Friday that is being screened by the broadcaster.

While Sauerland claimed that he was an “old friend” of Kinahan, he insisted he has “zero” ongoing business links to him and that the two men have never co-promoted fighters together.

“I go back a long way with Daniel,” Sauerland said in an online interview with IFL TV that pre-dated the US sanctions imposed on Kinahan.

He added in the interview that now appears to have been deleted: “I not only work in boxing with him, but I am very close with him outside of boxing, a very old friend. There is a lot of b******t out there.

“We are in a day and age of sensationalist crap and everyone loves a gangster story.”

However, on Thursday, Sauerland said he has “zero” ongoing business links to Kinahan.

There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by Sauerland, who told Sportsmail in a statement: “I can confirm we have zero business dealings with the individuals on the (sanctioning) list. I can also confirm that we have never co-promoted any fighters together.”

His comments prompted a statement from Channel 5 when asked by Sportsmail if it was satisfied that no fighter, promoter or manager associated with Kinahan would be involved in their broadcasts, who said: “The Channel 5 boxing contract is with Wasserman and not the Sauerland brothers.

“Neither Channel 5 or Wasserman Boxing have any business association, contractually or otherwise, with Daniel Kinahan.”

The card at The O2 will be Wasserman Boxing's first of five planned appearances on the channel this year.

We recently revealed how Individuals who breach sanctions imposed on mob boss Daniel Kinahan and his associates face fines of up to $1 million and a maximum 20 years in a US prison.

Details of the penalties that will be imposed on individuals who continue to engage in financial transactions with Kinahan are contained in the Office of Foreign Assets' Control's handbook concerning its 'Transnational Criminal Organizations' sanctions program.

"Civil monetary penalties of up to $250,000 or twice the amount of the underlying transaction may be imposed administratively against any person who violates, attempts to violate, conspires to violate, or causes a violation of … the regulations," the programme states.

"Upon conviction, criminal fines of up to $1,000,000, imprisonment for up to 20 years, or both, may be imposed on any person who wilfully commits or attempts to commit, or wilfully conspires to commit, or aids or abets in the commission of a violation of … the regulations."

On April 12, the US announced it was imposing the sanctions on seven "key members" of the Kinahan cartel, including leaders Daniel and Christy Kinahan Jnr and their father Christy Snr.

The sanctions against the Kinahan gang and its associated businesses in the UK and the United Arab Emirates mean US banks and companies cannot do business with the Kinahan organised crime group members and three designated businesses that were also been identified.

The sanctioned individuals also include gangster Liam Byrne's former right-hand man, Sean McGovern; Ian Dixon - a relative of Daniel Kinahan's mother; Bernard Clancy, a childhood neighbour of the Kinahans who grew up in the Oliver Bond flat complex, and ex-CAB target Johnny Morrissey.