The Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) says it is “seeking total clarity” on reports that its president Patrick Hickey has been arrested in Brazil over illegal Olympic ticket sales.
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He attempted to flee when officers came to his hotel with Hickey heading into the adjacent hotel room where his son had been staying. Interpol and Brazil’s Federal Police – the country’s equivalent of the FBI – have been informed of these arrest warrants, police said.
Hickey said that “there is no impropriety whatsoever from anyone in the OCI or myself in the dealing of tickets” in an interview earlier this week.
Patrick Hickey who visits judo regularly is former Irish Judo Federation president, Honoraary member of the European Judo Union. He reportedly fell ill during his arrest and was taken to hospital.
THG was an official ticketing agent for the 2012 London Olympics and the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi.
Authorities have also issued warrants for four more executives at THG, including Marcus Evans, who owns Marcus Evans Group, the parent company and owner of English soccer club Ipswich Town.
Fine Gael TD Noel Rock described today’s arrest as a “dark day for Irish sport”.
Another company, Pro10 Sports Management, are the ATR for these Games, however, meaning THG Sports had no rights to sell any.
On Aug. 8, the Olympic Council of Ireland denied any involvement in the ticketing scam, despite photos of some of the tickets showing they were an allocation from the NOC.
THG allegedly illegally sold tickets for the August 5 opening ceremony for $8,000 apiece, several times more than the highest official price.
“The tickets that he held were authorised tickets held on behalf of clients of the authorised ticket reseller and he was acting as the collection point for the authorised ticket resellers’ customers”.
“The OCI strictly adheres to the International Olympic Committee regulations around ticket allocation, sale and re-sale”.
“Notwithstanding, PRO10 utterly rejects any insinuation that they have been involved in selling tickets at inflated prices, ticket “touting” or “scalping”.
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Last week, the OCI wrote on its website there was “absolutely no suggestion of misconduct or impropriety” by the OCI or any of its staff.
