IOC: No request from Brazil police on Olympic ticket probe

Police referred to text messages passed between Pat Hickey and Bach in July 2015, in which Hickey requested 500 additional tickets for high demand events during the games.

Last night, police said they needed to interview International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach as a witness after his name appeared several times in emails discovered during the enquiry. We put 14 questions to him, but he did not respond.

Mr Bach cancelled a planned appearance in Rio this week at the opening of the Paralympic Games, for personal reasons.

Police said yesterday that they would prefer for Mallon to remain in the jurisdiction, but that this decision rested with the Brazilian judiciary. It was unclear if he would attend other events at the Paralympics, which run until 18 September.

The IOC promised to cooperate on Wednesday but it was unclear what arrangements had been made between its officials and the Brazilian authorities.

A prosecutor laid charges against him on Tuesday.

The controversy in Rio, sparked by the arrest of Mr Mallon, THG’s Dublin finance director, prompted Jon Tibbs, a London-based adviser to the OCI, to email Mr Hickey recommending that he “provisionally suspend” THG’s status as the OCI ticket vendor for PyeongChang.

After a two-day stay in a local hospital to undergo tests, he was held in a high-security prison complex.

He was set free last week after a judge ruled that he wasn’t a risk to the investigation.

In addition to Hickey and Mallon, Brazilian officials are likely to seek prosecution of another seven executives from PRO10 and THG with alleged ties to the ticket price-gouging scheme.

In an Independent article headlined ‘How did Pat Hickey become the most hated man in Irish sport?’ Irish sports journalist Paul Kimmage said there was not one single expression of support for Hickey, at least not any that he had seen.

“We have vast amounts of documentary proof and our investigation will wind up on Thursday (tomorrow)”, Barbosa said.

Another Irish suspect was also arrested in the probe: Kevin Mallon, director of British hospitality firm THG.

The charges include ticket touting, forming a criminal cartel, illicit marketing, embezzlement, tax evasion and money laundering, a statement from state prosecutors said, without specifying which individuals will face which charges.