Police arrived at the OCI offices in the Olympic village and its accommodation outside the village on Sunday morning, where they met staff.
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Brazilian police have also sought to take possession of passports belonged to three more OCI officials, Mr John Delaney, Chief Executive of the Football Association of Ireland and OCI Vice President; Mr Willie O’Brien, the interim President of the OCI; and Linda O’Reilly, the personal assistant to the OCI Presidency.
The three OCI members whose passports were seized yesterday will have to remain in Rio until Tuesday when they will be interviewed by police.
Rio police said Ireland team leader Kevin Kilty, chief executive Stephen Martin – from Bangor in Co Down – and secretary general Dermot Henihan, are accused of illegally selling Olympic tickets.
The head of the sports hospitality company THG Sports – which was licensed to resell London 2012 and Sochi 2014 Olympic tickets – was arrested on charges of illegal sales. Once charged, a judge can decide to throw out the case, or, accepting it, to release Mr Hickey until the case is resolved.
His arrest follows that of another Irishman, Kevin Mallon, a director at hospitality company THG Sports, on 5 August with tickets bearing the OCI’s name on them.
A long-standing member of the St. Michael’s Rowing Club in the city centre, Mr Henihan had been questioned as part of the ongoing police investigation into ticket touting within the OCI.
Hickey, 71, also head of the European Olympic Committees and an International Olympic Committee (IOC) member, has been held in a Brazilian top security prison since police raided his Rio hotel on August 15 during the Olympics as part of their probe into the affair.
The authorised ticket reseller (ATR) contracted by the OCI is Dublin-based PRO10 Sports Management.
Brazilian police are expanding their investigation into the alleged illegal sale of tickets for the Olympic Games in Rio. The exchange dates back to 2010 and, according to police, “discussed the sale of tickets allocated to the OCI”.
Hickey denied any involvement with THG before his arrest, and International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach said Mr. Hickey should be presumed innocent.
His passport, laptop and Olympic accreditations were seized.
The Irish Independent reported that Mr Lavigne said: “Mr Hickey has been arrested due to suppositions that are not supported by any material evidence or proof of the alleged facts presented by the police”.
THG has ties with Pro10, an accredited ticket seller at the Olympics.
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If the judge rejects the case, it goes no further, and Mr Hickey would be free to leave Brazil.
