The noose is tightening around Patrick Hickey (our photo, with Sergey Bubka). And its future is seriously getting darker. Arrested on August 15, 2016 at his hotel in Rio de Janeiro by Brazilian police, the Irish leader, member of the IOC Executive Board and president of the Association of European Olympic Committees (EOC), could spend the next three months in prison . Currently detained in a high security prison, he is awaiting a date for his hearing before the Brazilian courts. A date that has still not been set.
On Tuesday, August 23, Brazilian police claimed to have evidence against Patrick Hickey, 71, also president of the Irish Olympic Committee (OCI). “Analysis of the emails confirms that the president of the OCI, Patrick Hickey, was in direct contact with Marcus Evans, the director of THG for the sale of tickets at prices much higher than the official price,” said inspector Ricardo Barbosa de Souza during a press conference.
On August 15, the date of Patrick Hickey's arrest, the police issued four arrest warrants, including one against Briton Marcus Evans, president of the Ipswich football club and director of THG. “The OCI recommended THG for ticket sales to the Irish public,” explained the Brazilian inspector. Only problem: THG was not the official Olympic ticket sales agency for Ireland. She was at the London Games in 2012. But, for Rio 2016, the contract was signed with another agency, Pro10 Sports Management. »
During the same press conference, organized at the Rio police headquarters, Commissioner Aloysio Falcão clarified: “Patrick Hickey and Kevin James Mallon are in Bangu 10 prison, in preventive detention. We have 7 fugitives, including Marcus Evans, the big boss of the system, who controls THG. And we confiscated the passports of three people. »
Sunday August 21, the day of the closing ceremony of the Rio Games, the police searched the premises of the Irish Olympic Committee. Kevin Kilty, head of mission of the Irish delegation, Dermot Henihan and Stephen Martin, had their passports confiscated to prevent them from leaving the country. All three must be questioned by the police.
According to investigators, this illegal ticket trafficking generated revenue “of at least 10 million reals (2,8 million euros). The face value of the seized tickets is 626.000 reals, but they were resold for up to 30 times their price. »
Victim of feeling unwell at the time of his arrest, Patrick Hickey was taken to a hospital in Rio de Janeiro by ambulance, where he remained for two days under observation before being taken to prison. The Irish leader announced that he was temporarily relinquishing his many functions within the Olympic movement during the investigation.
