Hickey has temporarily stepped down from his IOC duties, including his post on the ruling executive board and heading the influential umbrella group for Europe’s Olympic bodies.
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He says the Irish Sports Council, who is responsible for the funding of the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI), should be tasked with looking at the situation. Mr. Hickey does have a medical history of cardiac issues.
Police arrived at the IOC’s hotel at 6 a.m. and found only Hickey’s wife, who refused to tell them where he was.
Officers found Sylviane Hickey alone in the room but many of her husband’s possessions still in the room, police reported.
The head of the European Olympic Committees Patrick Hickey has been arrested in Rio over allegedly passing on tickets to the Games to be sold on for extortionate prices.
But many of these tickets were referenced to the International Olympic Committee members.
Images by ESPN Brazil show Hickey answering the door to police and stepping into the bathroom naked.
He can be detained for a number of days by police as soon as he is released from hospital.
“We will fully cooperate with the police investigation if there is one”, Adams said. “That’s all I can say at the moment”, he said. “We have full confidence in the system here”.
Hickey is facing charges of conspiracy, ticket scalping and ambush marketing after allegations by Brazilian authorities that he was part of a plot to make $3 million by illegally selling Rio Games tickets above face value.
“Especially, an iPad that he had with him, and this is going to be investigated, especially the links between Mr Hickey and anyone related to ticketing”.
Rio police made their first arrests in the investigation last week when Kevin James Mallon, from the British hospitality provider THG, was held in Rio.
“The Sports Council of Ireland under their legislation – under section 8 of the Act of 1999 – they have the power to look into this, they have the power to request whatever information they want, they have the power to request whatever assistance they want from anybody, including the Olympic Council of Ireland”. The OCI name was visible on tickets displayed by police, but the Irish said they had no knowledge of the people in custody.
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Irish man Kevin Mallon, a director of United Kingdom sports hospitality company THG, and a translator were arrested earlier this month in Rio and about 800 tickets seized, some of which came from the OCI’s allocation.
