Sports hospitality firm THG Sports on Tuesday "denied accusations of fraudulent marketing of Rio Olympics tickets after one of its directors and an interpreter working for the Games were detained," according to Karolos Grohmann of REUTERS. Brazilian police on Monday said that they seized more than 1,000 tickets that were "being marketed at very high prices for the first Games to be held in South America." The tickets had been destined for the Olympic Council of Ireland, "which said it was investigating." Police said that the company could have made around R$10M ($3.2M) from buying tickets and "reselling them at a higher price." Police identified the THG director as Kevin James Mallon and the translator, who they said was "also an employee of the company," as Barbara Carnieri. In '14, THG CEO James Sinton was detained in Rio de Janeiro, accused of forming what police said was part of a "ticketing mafia" for the World Cup in Brazil that year. He was fined "and promptly left Brazil." A THG spokesperson said, "Based on a preliminary review of the facts, we understand Mr. Mallon has not breached any local laws or IOC rules." THG Group "is owned by Marcus Evans Group," which also controls League Championship club Ipswich Town. In '10, the OCI appointed THG as its official ticketing agent for the 2012 London Olympics and the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi (REUTERS, 8/9). In Dublin, Tom Hennigan reported for each Olympic Games the IOC allocates tickets to each national Olympic committee based on "population and sporting prowess." Each of these "typically contracts" an authorized ticket reseller. These are allowed to "sell on these tickets at an agreed mark-up or as part of travel or hospitality packages." But the IOC demands that each ATR "only sell into the territory of the national Olympic committee from which it holds its contract." The "most prized contract" of them all "is the one to sell hospitality packages in the host nation," which traditionally accounts for up to 70% of the hospitality market at each Olympic Games. In April of last year, the Rio contract was won by U.S. company IMM, in partnership with Latin America’s largest airline LATAM. If the tickets Mallon was selling had been acquired when THG "was still the OCI’s ATR and he was selling them to Irish citizens and companies," legal sources said that he "might not be in breach" of Olympic regulations preventing THG from selling tickets in Brazil (IRISH TIMES, 8/9).
