Police say the officials told them the tickets were intended for use by Irish athletes.
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Three Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) officials had their passports, phones and laptops seized by Brazilian police as the games wrapped up on Sunday, following the earlier arrest of president Pat Hickey.
Two Irish Olympic executives have told Rio police that the Olympic Council of Ireland’s long-time president, Patrick Hickey was in sole charge of ticketing matters, a top investigator has said.
He is sharing his jail cell with his fellow Irishman Kevin Mallon, a director at THG Sports, a corporate hospitality company that specializes in sporting events.
Police officials believe that all members of the OCI Executive Committee are involved, they said.
“Senior officials of the Department met with Mr Hickey’s Dublin-based solicitors on Wednesday, 24 August, and discussed the family’s concerns in detail, and explained the Department’s approach to this consular case”.
Yesterday Sports Minister Shane Ross announced former High Court Judge Carroll Moran would lead the inquiry into the ticketing scandal. Meanwhile, police in Rio held a press conference, during which they made excerpts of email conversations between Hickey and THG owner Marcus Evans available. Police said PRO10 was set up as a substitute for THG with the intention of rerouting tickets intended for the OCI to other company.
Police said they seized hundreds of tickets from Mallon, which were being offered for sale at $8,000 (7,072 euros). The courts have said that Hickey’s case will not be fast-tracked and he is in a queue that will be dealt with chronologically.
Other members of the OCI Executive Committee include Olympic 5,000 metres silver medallist Sonia O’Sullivan and John Delaney, chief executive of the Football Association of Ireland.
Cops are understood to have taken the travel documents of OCI executive members Dermot Henihan and Kevin Kilty, as well as chief executive Stephen Martin.
Mr Hickey has also stepped aside from his role as president of the OCI.
PRO10 and THG have denied wrongdoing.
“I’m Irish and I’m out here, I suppose”, Mr Kilty said when asked why he was being targeted by police.
Last week it was reported that police in Brazil began their initial investigations into Hickey following a “tip off” in 2012 from the former soccer player turned politician, Romario.
Once distributed to a court, a judge must decide whether or not to accept Mr Hickey’s case laid out by public prosecutors.
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Rio civil police said in a statement they had started an operation on Sunday linked to their probe into an worldwide ticket touting ring, but declined to provide further details.
