An IOC official said that the committee has met Brazilian judicial authorities investigating a case of alleged ticket scalping during the Rio de Janeiro Olympics and "provided information," according to Karolos Grohmann of REUTERS. The official said that the IOC had "not been asked to provide information but took the initiative, with its lawyers meeting officials investigating the case which has centered around suspended senior IOC member Patrick Hickey." In a letter sent to all its members, the IOC said it was "actively cooperating" with authorities. The letter said, "The IOC, even though not having been officially requested by the Brazilian judicial authorities, but learning from the media about the case, has taken the initiative to cooperate with the judicial authorities and is in contact with them to shed full light on the matter." Hickey, who was also the head of the Olympic Council of Ireland, was "released from Rio's Bangu 10 maximum security prison last month but must remain in Brazil until the case is heard." Police accused Hickey, 71, of "leading the operation with PRO10 to funnel tickets for the Rio Games through THG Sports" to raise R$10M ($3M) after "jacking up prices." All involved have "denied wrongdoing" (REUTERS, 9/17).
