“We are absolutely determined we will set up an inquiry to find out what happened”.
Advertisement
“We intend to appoint the judge next week and that the Terms of Reference for the Inquiry will be finalised shortly thereafter”.
A spokesman for the Department of Transport said the meeting was fruitful, and a framework is being finalised.
He said they had felt all along that an independent inquiry was the most important thing to give it credibility.
A second police commissioner, Aloysio Falcao, said Hickey’s wife had opened the hotel room’s door to police: “She said that her husband had already left the hotel but we took a look around (the room) and we found his credentials”.
Police said they seized hundreds of tickets from Mallon some of which had the Olympic Council of Ireland name on them. The Irish minister said the OCI will have “no choice but to cooperate” with a government inquiry into the scandal.
The Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) said on Friday it would commission an independent investigation into the accusations that led to the arrest of its longtime president.
“The previously announced internal inquiry by the OCI has been discontinued”, it added.
Mr Hickey, former president of the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI), has been moved to a high security remand prison at Rio’s Gericino Penitentiary Complex, known as Bangu Prison.
Rio’s Civil Police confirmed officers had detained Mr Hickey.
He is due to meet with the Attorney General Maire Whelan and his officials to discuss what format an inquiry will take, but insisted that it does not have to wait for matters to conclude in Brazil to commence.
Police are also looking for two soccer agents and a financial adviser at Pro 10 Sports Management, which investigators allege was created to facilitate the transfer of tickets between the Irish Olympic committee and THG, an unauthorized ticket seller.
The Irish Authorised Ticket Reseller (ATR) for the games said: “A Commission of Investigation should be established speedily; investigate all relevant facts and report its conclusions in the shortest possible time”.
International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams said the allegations concerned 1,000 tickets out of a total of 6.5 million that were made available for the Rio games.
The Irish director of global sports hospitality company THG Sports, Kevin Mallon who was arrested on 5 August, is also being held at Bangu Prison.
THG said that it had a “strong belief that it had acted lawfully at all times”, while Pro10 said it believed that they had “nothing to hide”.
A judge in Brazil has denied bail to Pat Hickey as he faces allegations of illegal resale of tickets for the Olympics.
Brazilian prosecutors issued warrants for Hickey and other figures including Marcus Evans, a British hospitality businessman and owner of English Championship football club Ipswich.
Advertisement
Police can’t start to question Hickey yet as he became ill while being arrested in the Barra da Tijuca district of Rio and taken to a hospital.
