Major expansion Boxing company set up by Daniel Kinahan is launching its own football agency

Mob boss Daniel Kinahan

Robin Schiller

February 23 2021 05:34 PM

THE boxing company founded by crime boss Daniel Kinahan is expanding its operations and setting up its own football agency.

MTK Global was founded under a different name in 2012 by Kinahan (43), who has been named in the Irish High Court as the leader of an international organised crime gang.

His links to boxing and criminality were the subject of a BBC Panorama documentary earlier this month which focused on his involvement in major title fights.

In the days after the programme aired members of the production team were informed of threats to their safety, which Kinahan denied any involvement in.

The sports company has now announced that it is planning to launch an agency called MTK Football.

In a statement MTK Global said that, “having already conquered the world of combat sports”, it will turn its attention to managing footballer players.

The new wing of MTK will be fronted by Danny Vincent (36), who they said has a “strong passion for football” who has been involved in building contacts worldwide.

Daniel Kinahan was name checked by Tyson Fury as the broker behind the heavyweight super-bout with Anthony Joshua

MTK Global Chief Strategy Officer Paul Gibson said they are “proven leaders in the field of athlete management within combat sports so we’re looking forward to what the future holds.”

No specific details have yet been given of which market or footballers MTK Football will focus on.

Daniel Kinahan previously acted as a special advisor for KHK Sports, a company founded by the Bahraini royal family, who have invested in several European football clubs

KHK Sports was founded in 2015 by Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the fifth son of Bahraini ruler King Hamad and the President of the Bahrain Olympic Committee.

Kinahan’s controversial appointment was announced last May but was short lived as the following month the Bahrain government said it had “discontinued its engagement with Daniel Kinahan”.

In recent years, MTK has repeatedly claimed Kinahan has stepped away from the company although the company has also recently conceded that he advises some of the boxers it represents.

Last May MTK Global announced a partnership with KHK Sports which it said will “bring the biggest fights to the Middle East” along with broadcasters ESPN, BT Sports and Sky Sports.

At the time Kinahan was quoted as saying the partnership was “a monumental move” for both organisations and that “the sky is the limit in what they can achieve”.

In recent weeks the Dublin native has released a number of statements to various media companies, including the Sunday World, claiming he is a legitimate businessman.

He told UK radio show TalkSport that he was not involved in the threats to BBC journalists and described the Panorama show a “rehash of unsubstantiated allegations”.

Kinahan stepped back from boxing last June after it emerged he help arrange the Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua bout, but now says he is involved in “multiple” world title fights.

“I can’t be any clearer on the fundamental slur – I am not a part of a criminal gang or any conspiracy. I have no convictions. None. Not just in Ireland but anywhere in the world,” he said.

Last year the non-jury Special Criminal Court that the Kinahan Organised Crime Gang was involved in arms trafficking and execution style murders.

Separately the High Court previously accepted evidence from the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) that Daniel Kinahan was in charge of the gang’s day-to-day operations.