Police only began questioning Hickey on Thursday because he was hospitalized for a day with chest pains following his arrest. It involves 1000 tickets from the NOC, they are looking into it.
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The Olympic Council Ireland said it is “aware of the media stories regarding Pat Hickey and we are seeking total clarity on the situation before we comment further”.
Mr Hickey temporarily stepped down as OCI president after being dramatically arrested in a hotel room in Rio on Wednesday.
Patrick Hickey has had to resign from his posts after ticket scalping charges against him.
Hickey’s alleged involvement was through Ireland’s Olympic committee, which police said helped transfer tickets to an unauthorized vendor who would set high fees and disguise the transaction as a hospitality package. We will defend ourselves to the hilt. “That’s all I can say at the moment”, he said.
TDs have demanded an independent investigation.
Mr Ross said he had not received any contact from Taoiseach Enda Kenny since the controversy came to light.
There was another story during the World Cup where another company was involved – a person from Federation Internationale de Football Association was involved in a ticket touting scandal. “This position is simply no longer tenable”, Mr Dooley said.
He also suggested that a refund of €520,000 given to the OCI is a possibility under existing legislation. “The public deserves answers as to how the OCI operates and how tickets allocated to Ireland were handled”.
Pat Hickey in Rio before his arrest.
“In doing so, under the legislation the Olympic Council of Ireland must comply”.
Mr Ross said he was left “shattered”.
He faces three charges, which could result in as many as seven years in prison, according to Irish outlet RTE Sport.
He said he could not force them but would be surprised if they did not assist the investigation.
“This involves 1000 of the six million tickets, it involves the NOC of Ireland which has already launched an inquiry and obviously we wait to see what happens from that”.
But Mr Ross added that his department needed to be very sensitive and they will do nothing to prejudice what is happening in Rio de Janeiro. “Until then, the presumption of innocence prevails”.
His wife opened the door and she said he was not there. All involved are foreigners and do not have permanent residence in this country, so it seems likely that, if they remained at liberty, they might avoid justice.
Hickey was hospitalized shortly after Rio police went to the IOC’s hotel Wednesday morning to arrest him. Police, however, found Hickey’s Olympic accreditation badge on the floor, along with his shoes, socks and bag.
With relation to the ticket touting scandal, Minister Ross said he wanted to keep his options open but he thought that an internal inquiry was “off the table”.
Asked by a reporter if that meant defending Mr Hickey too, he said: “Exactly, yeah”. Footage of the seconds which followed Mr Hickey’s arrest circulated widely in the hours afterwards.
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Among the items released was a copy of the legal advice used by Mr Hickey in his meeting on Sunday with Mr Ross.
