Rio police raid Irish Olympics office in ticket scam investigation

It follows a Brazilian police raid on Irish Olympic officials on the last day of the Rio Games, where they also seized computers, cellphone, and unused tickets in a rapidly expanding investigation.

According to RTE, the officials included Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) Chief Executive Mr Martin, who is from Bangor, Co Down, and previously a Director of Coaching at Ulster Hockey.

The three officials are OCI chief executive Stephen Martin, secretary-general Kevin Kilty and treasurer Dermot Henihan, police said.

In a statement, the OCI says police arrived early Sunday at its offices in the Olympic Village and accommodation elsewhere in Rio.

A police statement released on Sunday said investigators saw indications they “were also involved in the illegal sale of tickets”.

They will appoint an accountancy firm to conduct a review of the ticketing process which will then be presented to the independent inquiry.

The inquiry, which is expected to last three months, will be chaired by a retired judge and its terms of reference are expected to be outlined in the coming days. The Irish Times reported earlier that passports had been seized from three officials.

The investigation has been ongoing for almost the full duration of the Rio Olympics, with the first arrests made two weeks ago.

The police surveillance began after Romário de Souza Faria (known as Romário), a famed former footballer and now a member of parliament, had expressed concern before the games that ticket scalpers would leave ordinary Brazilians unable to afford attending the games.

Hickey was later discharged from the hospital before being taken to a police station for questioning. He has stepped aside from his role as president of the OCI.

The seizure of passports is the latest in the ticket touting scandal.

This doesn’t amount to a charge under British law – it is described as a “preliminary step” before the equivalent in Brazilian law in The Guardian.

Mr Hickey, Pro10 and THG have denied any wrongdoing.

Mallon works for THG Sports, a company owned by Marcus Evans, who were the OCI’s official authorised ticket reseller for London 2012 and Sochi 2014.