One of the International Olympic Committee’s most senior figures has been arrested in a dawn raid in Rio de Janeiro over alleged ticket-touting.
In a hugely embarrassing development for the IOC, Pat Hickey, the head of the Olympic Committee of Ireland and also head of the European Olympic Committees, was seized at the Olympic Family Hotel in Rio’s Barra da Tijuca by police at 6am on Wednesday. Hickey, an IOC member since 2005, immediately stepped down from his roles on a “temporary basis”.
And on Wednesday night the OCI said in a statement that he had been admitted to hospital. “Mr Patrick Hickey has been admitted to Samaritano Hospital for investigation of chest pain. His condition is stable. In view of his previous cardiac history he will remain in hospital for a further 24 hours.”
The episode has echoes of the raids on the Baur au Lac hotel in Switzerland that presaged the downfall of Fifa and a similar operation against large-scale ticket touting by Rio police during the 2014 World Cup.
Police said Hickey tried to evade arrest, apparently by fleeing to a room registered under his son’s name and leaving behind his clothes and accreditation, but the OCI contested that version of events.
Police said investigators in their anti-fraud department had found reason to suspect Hickey’s involvement in what it called an “international touting ring”.
The Irishman has spent decades working his way up the rungs of the Olympic movement and was voted on to its executive board, a position which brings with it $900 a day during the Games, in 2009. Last week police made a series of arrests of individuals linked to THG, a company that held the rights to resell tickets for the 2012 and 2016 Olympics through the Olympic Committee of Ireland. For the 2016 Games it struck a deal with another company, Pro10.
THG is owned by the owner of Ipswich Town, Marcus Evans, and the company’s director, Kevin James Mallon, was among those arrested. Police said they seized more than 1,000 tickets being sold for well above the asking price, including some bearing the name of the Olympic Committee of Ireland. A translator hired by THG, Barbara Carnieri, was also arrested.
Police claimed the tickets were mainly for events such as the opening and closing ceremonies and stood to net THG a profit of $10m. Around 40 other touts have also been arrested by police during the Games.
In a statement civil police said they had also informed Interpol of warrants for the arrest of four other THG directors: David Gilmore, Evans, Maarten van Os and Martin Studd. The reclusive Ipswich Town owner Evans made his money in the burgeoning sports hospitality market in the 1980s and 1990s but has frequently run into controversy. During last month’s European Championship in France Uefa said it was suing one of his companies over illegal ticket sales.
Pro10, the OCI’s authorised ticket reseller for the Games, said it had legitimate customers for its tickets. It said Mallon was acting as a collection agent for them in Rio, meeting clients. THG and Pro10 have denied any wrongdoing.
An IOC spokesman confirmed an arrest warrant and a search warrant had been issued, while Brazilian police later confirmed they had laid charges of ticket-touting, forming a cartel and illicit marketing. Three telephones and two tablet computers were seized. Hickey, when he was arrested, was led away wearing only a hastily gathered bath robe. He was briefly taken to hospital after complaining of feeling sick during the episode. Pictures showed his passport and official accreditation had been taken by police.
Last week the Olympic Council of Ireland said it would launch an inquiry after some of the tickets seized were linked to it. The organisation said there was “absolutely no suggestion of misconduct or impropriety” by any of its staff. On Wednesday, it added: “Mr Hickey will of course continue to cooperate and assist with all ongoing inquiries.”
Shane Ross, Ireland’s sports minister, flew into Rio on Sunday and had talks with Hickey about ticketing. After the meeting he said he was stunned by the OCI’s refusal to allow an independent figure on to the internal inquiry into the sale of tickets allocated to Ireland. He was back in Ireland on Wednesdayyesterday for emergency talks.
Amid ongoing criticism of the IOC over its handling of the Russian doping crisis, a swirl of controversy surrounding Olympic boxing and against the backdrop of a logistically challenging Games in Rio, another familiar controversy that has echoed down the years returned to haunt the organisation. Before the London 2012 Olympics reports accused some IOC members of trying to make money through side deals on tickets.
During the 2014 World Cup police targeted ticketing intermediaries. THG, which once employed Hickey’s son Stephen, has said there is no evidence to support the allegations made by police.
In 2012 the former Brazilian footballer-turned-senator and longstanding critic of Fifa and the IOC, Romario, filed a request with the ministry of sport to investigate Hickey for influence-peddling. He denied any wrongdoing.
A former black-belt judoka, Hickey has been the head of the OCI since 1989. He has been involved in several controversies, including his obsession with launching the inaugural European Games in Baku last year, which were criticised by human rights organisations.
