Police recommend charges against IOC’s Hickey, PRO10 executives

Hickey is accused of plotting with at least six others to illegally sell tickets for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, Rio police said.

Meanwhile, Slovenian Janez Kocijancic will take over the presidency of the European Olympic Committee (EOC) after Patrick Hickey stepped down following his arrest earlier on Wednesday, the EOC said.

If officials being arrested on ticket-scalping charges at an global sports event in Brazil sounds familiar that’s because it happened at the 2014 World Cup. Hickey has not responded to calls for comment.

Ireland’s national Olympic committee – the Olympic Council of Ireland – said Hickey was admitted to Samaratino Hospital “for investigation of chest pain” and was in stable condition.

An online video, credited to ESPN, showed Hickey being apprehended and led away in a white bathrobe.

The Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) said in a statement that Mr Hickey was stepping aside “until this matter is fully resolved” and would continue to co-operate and assist with all ongoing enquiries.

International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams confirmed the arrest and hospitalization of Hickey. “We have full confidence in the system”.

He was taken to a hospital after Brazilian police raided on his hotel as part of a probe into ticket scalping. Evans regularly faces scrutiny for his sale of tickets for major sporting events.

Under Brazilian law, only prosecutors can actually file the charges, and had yet to do so by late afternoon Wednesday.

In a statement, Ross says: “Today, I learned from our ambassador here in Brazil that a second Irish citizen has been arrested in connection with the Brazilian authorities’ investigation into alleged ticket touting”.

The former judo athlete built his powerbase through the sport, going on to lead the entire Irish team at the 1988 and 1992 Olympics before being elected an International Olympic Committee member in 1995.

His arrest comes after police last week detained a director of THG Sports, an global sports hospitality company, Kevin Mallon, and a translator employed by the company, alleging that they could have made 10 million reais ($3 million) from buying tickets and reselling them at a higher price.

Police are also looking for two soccer agents and a financial adviser at Pro 10 Sports Management, which investigators allege was created to facilitate the transfer of tickets between the Irish Olympic committee and THG, an unauthorized ticket seller.

THG has rejected the accusations against the company and Mallon, saying that more than 1,000 tickets seized by police were being held legally on behalf of PRO10 and criticizing local Olympic organizers.

On Monday Brazilian authorities issued arrest warrants for four people connected to THG, including Marcus Evans, the British multi-millionaire who owns THG Sports’ parent company and Ipswich Town Football Club. He has been head of the OCI since 1989.

In that role, Hickey launched the European Games, which were staged for the first time a year ago in Baku amid criticism over Azerbaijan’s human rights record.