Police got the arrest warrant for Mr Hickey after the Rio organising committee confirmed that neither the OCI or Pro10 had advised the committee that tickets for the OCI’s use at the games were going to be returned for general sale, said Ricardo Barbosa, of the Rio police unit leading the investigation.
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Mr Mallon is the director of THG Sports, a sports hospitality company alleged to have resold tickets for Rio 2016 illegally.
Conspiracy, ticket scalping and ambush marketing are the charges facing the 71-year-old Hickey. Police, however, found Hickey’s Olympic accreditation badge on the floor, along with his shoes, socks and bag.
International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams said Hickey was taken to a local hospital by ambulance at about 7:30 a.m.
Fianna Fail vice president Timmy Dooley said Mr Hickey’s arrest was “a seriously worrying development”.
During the World Cup, police arrested high-level figures of the official Cup corporate hospitality provider for funnelling tickets to touters.
Patrick Hickey, a member of the International Olympic Committee’s executive board, was accused of plotting with at least nine others to sell tickets above face value in a scheme that authorities say netted about $3 million in profits.
Al Jazeera’s Joanna Gasiorowska, reporting from Rio de Janeiro, said the “most serious” charge against Hickey is “forming a cartel” to sell the tickets.
His arrest comes after police last week detained a director of global sports hospitality company THG Sports, Kevin Mallon, and a translator employed by the company, alleging that they could have made 10 million reais ($3 million) from buying tickets and reselling them at a higher price.
One of the executives wanted is Marcus Evans, who owns Marcus Evans Group, the parent company for THG Sports and the owner of English soccer club Ipswich Town.
The tickets were registered to the OCI.
When he was arrested on August 5, Mallon was in possession of more than 800 top-class tickets for the Games. “This position is simply no longer tenable”, Mr Dooley said.
THG and PRO10 have denied any wrongdoing over ticket sales. The OCI name was visible on tickets displayed by police, but the Irish said they had “no knowledge” of the two men arrested.
He said further investigation would be required to establish if the OCI was a beneficiary of the alleged scheme. We abhor such practices.
The OCI said it would launch an inquiry into the ticket sale controversy but has been criticised for rejecting a call by the Irish sports minister to bring in independent investigators. When the police eventually found him he said he wasn’t feeling well, citing a previous heart condition, and they took him to a hospital.
He advised Mr Hickey to undergo tests in hospital before any attempts were made to question him.
Mr Mallon was arrested after police seized Olympic tickets in a Rio hotel, some of which were part of the Irish allocation and some for the opening and closing ceremonies and the football final. Adams said. “Yes. I hope we can”.
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Mr Ross said that “given the seriousness of this matter, and in the interests of taking swift and decisive action” he was returning to Dublin.
