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Brazilian police raid Olympic Council of Ireland offices

Irish officials are under investigation in a ticket-scalping probe.

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Earlier in August, before the Games began, the Irish Olympic Council denied any knowledge of alleged ticket touting after its name was pictured on tickets seized by police as part of a crackdown, The Guardian reported.

He was detained by police in Rio and is now an inmate at the Bangu maximum security prison in Rio.

In a statement, the OCI says police arrived early Sunday at its offices in the Olympic Village and accommodation elsewhere in Rio.

After being discharged he was taken to a police station for questioning in connection with the investigation.

No one had been arrested on Sunday, the OCI said.

He has had his head shaved and is being treated the same as “any other prisoner” at Brazil’s largest jail, where he is sharing a cell with with Kevin Mallon as both men wait to see if they are formally charged in the Olympic Games ticket-touting controversy.

A decision about whether to file formal charges against Hickey is expected to be made after the evidence has been studied on Tuesday and a court hearing held.

The authorised ticket reseller (ATR) contracted by the OCI is Dublin-based PRO10 Sports Management.

“His arrest has no legal support”.

Those who had their passports seized on Sunday morning were OCI Executive Director Stephen Martin, Secretary-General Dermot Henihan and Treasurer Kevin Kilty, police said.

Hickey denied any involvement with THG before his arrest, and International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach said Mr. Hickey should be presumed innocent.

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The judge also issued the search and seizure warrant for the tickets, phones, laptops, USB drives and computers in the rooms of the OCI at the Windsor Hotel and the Olympic Village.

Documents belonging to Ireland's Patrick Hickey a member of the International Olympic Committee's executive board that include his Olympics&#39 credential and passport are displayed alongside Olympic tickets during a police press conference